[Reporter’s Notebook] Random Knife Attacks “Targeting the Vulnerable” Must Be Prevented Under the Life and Safety Framework Act

Life and Safety Framework Act enacted; draft enforcement decree open for public comment
Whether "random knife attacks" will be included in the scope of safety accidents remains undecided
A form of social terror, yet... Ministry of the Interior and Safety: "Further discussion needed"

On October 13, a random knife attack took place at a large shopping and entertainment complex in Incheon, leaving eight people injured after being stabbed. The suspect was a man in his 50s who had a prior attempted-murder conviction and was wearing an electronic ankle monitor. With a knife wrapped in his hand, he launched indiscriminate attacks on passersby. The incident showed how an everyday public space can turn into a scene of terror in an instant, once again earning electronic ankle monitors a reputation as "useless."

The Life and Safety Framework Act, which enshrines the people's right to live safely as a fundamental right, is set to take effect in earnest on December 3. Enacted amid public demands that the state take responsibility for protecting people's lives and safety following major disasters such as the Sewol ferry disaster and the Itaewon tragedy, the act stipulates everyone's right to be protected from risks in everyday life and the state's duty to provide that protection.

However, it remains unclear whether victims of indiscriminate violent crimes, such as random knife attacks that cause mass casualties, will actually fall within the scope of the act's protections.

Under the draft enforcement decree for the Life and Safety Framework Act, which is currently open for public comment, "safety accidents" are defined to include disasters, industrial accidents, traffic accidents, and incidents that cause significant harm to life or physical well-being. However, an official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said, "It is unclear whether crimes such as random knife attacks should be covered under the definition of safety accidents," adding, "Since the act was enacted in response to major disasters, further discussion is needed on whether to include violent crimes."

This interpretation risks undermining the fundamental purpose of the act. If people being targeted in random stabbings while eating at a restaurant or visiting a shopping mall or movie theater does not constitute a "threat to safety," what does? Dismissing an incident caused by the failure to supervise a man with nine prior convictions and flaws in the electronic monitoring system as merely an individual crime amounts to the state narrowing its own duty to protect the public.

The act explicitly states that everyone has the right to have their life and physical well-being protected from the risk of safety accidents in everyday life, regardless of gender, region, or economic status. Random knife attacks are a form of social terror that threatens the daily lives and lives of unspecified members of the public, as well as a serious public safety crisis. It is not appropriate to treat them solely as matters for criminal punishment or individual compensation lawsuits.

In finalizing the enforcement decree, the government should include indiscriminate violent crimes occurring in public places among the safety threats that the state must manage and take responsibility for. If people are living in fear of being attacked in everyday spaces, their right to safety is nothing more than an empty shell.

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