South Korean police detain man over stabbing of 8 people at shopping mall

South Korean police said they had detained a man suspected of stabbing eight people, one of which is reportedly in life-threatening condition, at a shopping mall in Incheon on Tuesday.

Officers are investigating the motive and circumstances of the attack, a police spokesperson said by telephone.

President Lee Jae Myung urged a swift and rigorous investigation after visiting the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency and being briefed on the case, according to his office.

"I pray for a swift recovery of those who were harmed in today's stabbing rampage incident," Lee said in an X post.

The victims included six women and two men, the Yonhap news agency reported. One woman in her 20s underwent surgery at a nearby hospital after suffering life-threatening injuries, it added.

Yonhap said the 59-year-old suspect had previously served a four-year prison sentence for attempted murder.

The suspect has been fitted with ‌an ⁠electronic monitoring ankle bracelet since his release in 2019, and had been receiving treatment for mental health issues and alcohol addiction, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

The electronic monitoring system is a crime prevention program that covers people convicted of a range of crimes including murder.

The ministry pledged to conduct a thorough investigation ⁠of the system, which uses real-time GPS tracking to monitor high-risk offenders after their release from prison.

The city of Incheon, west of Seoul, is home to South Korea's main airport and forms part of the wider Seoul metropolitan ⁠area.

South Korea was shaken by a series of stabbing rampages in 2023, including attacks that left multiple people dead and injured.

More recently in May, a 17-year-old girl was fatally stabbed ⁠and another teenager hurt in the southwestern city of Gwangju by a man in his 20s, who was later sentenced by a court to life in prison.