13 Million Won in 6 Days... Hospitalization Costs for 'Bundang Stabbing Incident' Victim

Victim in Brain Death After Being Hit by Choi Won-jong's Car
Support Fund of 50 Million Won "About One Month's Treatment Cost"
"Support Needed to Prevent Hardship for Victim's Family"

It has been reported that a woman in her 20s who fell into a brain-dead state after being hit by a car driven by the suspect Choi Won-jong (22) during the ‘Bundang stabbing rampage incident’ incurred hospitalization costs of 13 million won over six days.

"13 million won for 6 days of hospitalization... No place for the family to rely on"

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@

On the 10th, Lee Ki-in, a member of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly (affiliated with the People Power Party), informed the public about the situation faced by the victim A and her family through his social networking service (SNS).

Assemblyman Lee said, “13 million won for six days of hospitalization. This is the hospital bill shown by the parents of the 20-year-old female student victim of the Choi Won-jong case, who fell into a brain-dead state, whom I met yesterday at Ajou University Emergency Trauma Center. The victim’s parents, who chose life-sustaining treatment in desperation, cannot even estimate how much more hospital expenses will be required in the future.”

He continued, “The problem is that there is nowhere to rely on. The amount that the Prosecutor’s Crime Victim Support Center can pay is 50 million won per year, which is about one month’s worth of life-sustaining treatment costs. Moreover, the compensation paid by the opposing party’s insurance company is about 15 million won, but even that cannot be paid in duplicate with the support fund from the Victim Support Center, and they were told to ‘choose only one,’” he added.

He also said, “The student has no insurance, the civil lawsuit against the perpetrator is a distant prospect, and there is no other support fund,” and pointed out, “Some people say, ‘Why should the state compensate for their damages?’ but such incidents can happen to anyone.”

Assemblyman Lee said, “At the very least, there should be compensation to prevent the victim’s family from falling into financial hardship,” and added, “Even overlapping payments should be somewhat allowed in cases like this.”

Choi Won-jong reveals his face: "I am sorry to the victims"

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 to be transferred to the prosecution. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

On the afternoon of the 3rd, around 6 p.m., Choi Won-jong drove a vehicle and charged onto the sidewalk in front of AK Plaza department store near Seohyeon Station in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, hitting five pedestrians. He then entered the department store and allegedly wielded a weapon at nine citizens while moving between the first and second floors.

As a result, a 64-year-old woman who had also fallen into a brain-dead state along with victim A passed away on the 6th. Due to the victim’s death, Choi Won-jong was transferred to the prosecution facing charges of attempted murder, attempted premeditated murder, and murder.

Choi Won-jong revealed his face as he left the detention center that day and headed toward the transport vehicle. He said, “I am sorry to the victims. I hope the victims currently in the hospital recover quickly. I also express my condolences to the deceased victim. I am truly sorry to the bereaved families.”

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Choi Won-jong received psychiatric treatment for about five years starting in 2015 but has not received treatment since then. He was found to have schizoid personality disorder, and the psychopathy diagnostic test (PCL-R) result was ‘unmeasurable.’

In the diagnostic test, among the four evaluation factors?interpersonal relationships, emotional problems, lifestyle, and antisociality?Choi Won-jong’s scores for detailed items related to interpersonal relationships and emotional problems were impossible to score, resulting in falling short of the psychopathy diagnostic criteria.

The dedicated investigation team at the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, which received the case from the police, stated, “We will clearly identify the full details of this crime, which caused great fear and anxiety among the public.”

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