Incheon stabbing incident 'cooperation with investigation and probation agencies' is blocked by the National Assembly

(Incheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Eunji Choi = At ​​the National Assembly Audit of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 19th, it was pointed out that a cooperation system between judicial authorities is needed in relation to the knife attack incident that occurred at a large commercial facility in Incheon on the 13th.

Representative Park Eun-jung of the Korea Reform Party asked at the Incheon Public Prosecution Office inspection held at the National Assembly on this day, "On the day of the crime, (suspect Choi Choong-rak) met with a probation officer, had lunch, and was in possession of a weapon, but they were unable to prevent the crime at all." He asked, "What do you think the biggest problem is?"

In response, Incheon Public Prosecutors' Office Director Park Seong-min responded, "Probation should have worked better, but I also feel regretful about that. I think we need to ensure that the organic cooperation system between the investigative agency and the probation agency works well."

It was also pointed out that the prosecution did not take preemptive treatment and custody measures even though Choi Choong-rak had a history of attempted murder twice in the past and alcohol dependence.

Rep. Park said, "During the 2004 attempted murder, the mental evaluation concluded that Choi Choong-rak had depression but was not mentally and physically weak, so he was unable to request treatment and custody," and added, "When the attempted murder was indicted in 2015, he had a history of being hospitalized for alcohol dependence, so I wonder what would have happened if he had applied for treatment or a mental evaluation."

In response to this, Commissioner Park responded, "In the case of therapeutic confinement, mental and physical loss or mental and physical weakness is a prerequisite, and then there are parts where the sentence may be reduced as necessary. However, we will review whether such aspects meet the requirements for therapeutic confinement."

Choi Choong-rak, a knife attack criminal, was arrested and investigated on charges of attempting to kill 10 customers by stabbing them at the See&See building, a large commercial facility in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, which houses a large supermarket and a movie theater, at 1:48 p.m. on the 13th.