Two South Korean police officers stabbed outside presidential compound
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One officer was stabbed in the stomach and the other was wounded in the left arm.
PHOTO: THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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SEOUL – The South Korean authorities detained a man on Tuesday after two police officers were stabbed outside a compound housing the presidential office in the capital of Seoul, city police said.
One officer was stabbed in the stomach and the other in the left arm at 1.20pm, after they tried to subdue a man in his 70s who was shouting in front of the compound, Yonhap news agency reported.
The two officers are being treated in hospital, said the agency.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed the incident but did not give any details nor commented on a suspected motive for the attack outside the compound where the Ministry of Defence is also located.
Meanwhile, SBS News broadcast footage of a man being held down, with a knife nearby on the ground.
President Yoon Suk-yeol moved the presidential office to its current location in Seoul’s Yongsan district in 2022 from the Blue House, which had served as the presidential residence since 1948.
His office did not immediately comment, and it was not clear if the President was in the office at the time.
The area outside the compound is often the site of political demonstrations and protests.
This year, a man went on a stabbing spree in a commuter town near Seoul,
Those stabbing attacks came as a shock to South Korea, which has long enjoyed a reputation for safety due to a low murder rate and strict gun controls. REUTERS
