'Seohyeon Station Stabbing' Choi Won-jong Transferred: "Sorry to the Victims"

Choi Won-jong (22), the suspect in the 'Seohyeon Station Stabbing Rampage' incident that resulted in 14 casualties, has been handed over to the prosecution.

Choi Won-jong, the assailant involved in the stabbing incident at Seohyeon Station, is responding to reporters' questions as he leaves the detention center of Seongnam Sujeong Police Station and heads to the transport vehicle on the morning of the 10th for transfer to the prosecution. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

The Southern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency's dedicated investigation team sent Choi to the prosecution on the morning of the 10th at 9 a.m., under charges of murder, attempted murder, and attempted premeditated murder. Before boarding the transport vehicle after leaving the Seongnam Sujeong Police Station detention center in Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, Choi told reporters, "I am sorry to the victims, and I hope they recover quickly," adding, "I would like to express my condolences to the deceased victim and sincerely apologize to the bereaved families."

When asked if he still believed the victims were members of an organized stalking group, he replied, "I was a victim of organized stalking for several years and thought there were many members around my house. So, I thought I had to kill the people around my house."

Choi is accused of driving a vehicle toward pedestrians in front of the AK Plaza department store in Seohyeon-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, connected to Seohyeon Station on the Suin-Bundang Line, at 5:59 p.m. on the 3rd, then getting out with a weapon and wildly swinging it at citizens. One person died and 13 were injured as a result of Choi Won-jong’s crime.

The police responded to multiple 112 emergency calls at the scene and arrested Choi at 6:05 p.m., just six minutes after the first report. Considering the gravity of the case, they formed a dedicated investigation team of 63 members led by the chief of Bundang Police Station and began the investigation. They conducted time-segmented video analysis of the scene’s closed-circuit television (CCTV), forensic analysis of Choi’s two mobile phones and PC, and interrogated him three times as a suspect. Additionally, they carried out profiler interviews, medical record analyses, and investigations of people around him to thoroughly examine the motive and process of the crime.

According to the police investigation, Choi committed the crime due to delusional paranoia. In a briefing held at Bundang Police Station the previous day, the police revealed that Choi’s statements and forensic examination results of his phones and PC consistently showed symptoms of paranoid delusions. Most of the keywords Choi searched for during forensic analysis were related to "stalking" and "organization." During police questioning, Choi also claimed he was attacked by the stalking organization using "radiation" or "electromagnetic weapons." The police concluded that Choi, who was diagnosed with "schizoid personality disorder" in 2020, had not received any treatment and committed the crime after falling into delusions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.