A local store owner is being hailed as a hero in South Korea after he successfully took down a knife-wielding man on a rampage.
CCTV capture of the scene | MBN
The incident occurred on March 8, KST, when a man in his 50s tried to start a fire in the streets of Suyu-dong in Seoul around 12:25 pm. A passerby noticed and tried to stop him, but the man swung a knife in response, injuring the victim’s face.
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The Gangbuk Police Station reported that a local fruit vendor, Jo Yu Chan, bravely stepped forward to confront the assailant. Sensing danger, Jo, who was standing near the suspect, attacked him and lured him toward a less crowded area. The entire scene was caught on CCTV cameras, which showed Jo taking down the suspect with a flying kick, after which he tried to take away the knife from him.
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[Video could not be displayed]
Talking to the local media outlets, Jo explained that he lured the man away because his family members were near the scene.
My daughter and my wife were here (near the scene) so I tried to lure him away, telling him to follow me if he wanted to kill me. So he did.
— Jo Yu Chan, MBN
The assailant, who had his face covered in camouflage paint, told Jo that he was “preparing for war.”
The police arrived at the scene and apprehended the attacker around 1:25 pm. They found him carrying a total of three weapons. He is currently being investigated for special bodily injury on another, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The police have applied for an arrest warrant for the suspect and are also investigating if the crime happened under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
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Jo, on the other hand, has been met with overflowing praise on social media, with the public unanimously giving him the title of a superhero.
Though this time, a heroic civilian saved the day, the incident has brought back fresh attention to South Korea’s growing crisis of knife attacks. Read more about it here.
