Professor Seriously Injured in Knife Attack at Sin촌 Severance Hospital

[Anchor]

A psychiatrist has been seriously injured after a woman in her 50s went on a stabbing rampage at Sinchon Severance Hospital in Seoul. The woman, who was arrested at the scene, is reportedly refusing to cooperate with police statements.

Reporter Park Jaehyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

At around 4:30 PM today (November 4), a knife attack occurred in the Department of Psychiatry at Sinchon Severance Hospital in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.

A woman in her 50s, identified as A, suddenly entered an examination room, pulled out a weapon she had concealed in a shopping bag, and attacked a psychiatrist.

The victimized professor sustained 5-centimeter-long slash wounds to the face, arms, and head, and was rushed to the emergency room for treatment. The professor's life is reportedly not in danger.

[Severance Hospital Official: Information regarding a patient's condition falls under privacy regulations. We are unable to provide details.]

Hospital staff subdued A immediately following the attack, and police officers dispatched to the scene arrested A on charges of special assault about 10 minutes later.

A reportedly made incoherent statements right after the arrest, saying things such as, "I originally meant to go to a different general hospital, but came to the wrong place."

Authorities found that A had not made an outpatient appointment with the victimized professor before visiting the hospital, and had a history of receiving treatment for mental illness at multiple medical institutions, including Severance Hospital.

Following the tragic incident in December 2018 where Professor Lim Se-won of the psychiatry department at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital was killed by a patient during a consultation, the National Assembly passed the so-called "Lim Se-won Act" to strengthen penalties for acts of violence against healthcare workers.

However, this latest incident shows that authorities still failed to prevent an attack targeting a medical professional currently on duty.

A is reportedly refusing to give statements to the police.

(Video by Kang Si-woo | Video Editing by Shin Se-eun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.