Yeouido madman met his match with professor

Lee Gak-soo

When a 30-year-old man was arrested for stabbing two former colleagues and brandishing his knife at passersby in broad daylight on a crowded street in Yeouido, western Seoul, the brave people who apprehended him weren’t in uniform.

They were ordinary people who summoned the courage to overpower the madman armed with only an umbrella, belts and a mop. Other good Samaritans ripped off their own garments to make bandages to staunch the wounds of the four people stabbed in the incident.

On Wednesday, the Yeongdeungpo Police Precinct arrested the suspect, surnamed Kim, who tried to run away after stabbing two former co-workers at a Yeouido office, a man surnamed Ahn, 30, and a woman surnamed Kim. After his arrest, the suspect said he plotted the attack because he believed he was forced to quit his job due to verbal back-stabbing by his colleagues.

As soon as the first two victims fell to the ground, the suspect tried to escape the scene. That’s when he stabbed two more people, who he thought were pursuing him.

Lee Gak-soo, 50, a martial arts professor at Myongji University in Seoul, tried to block his flight. Kim threatened him with his knife, but Lee calmly started to fight him, kicking him in the face and chest. Kim ran in the opposite direction, and Lee pursued him.

Kim ended up running into a blind alley, and at that point, another man, Kim Jeong-gi, joined Lee. Kim’s only weapon was an 80-centimeter (32 inch) umbrella. They were joined by other people wielding belts and a mop. The crowd blocked the suspect’s way and bought time until the police arrived 10 minutes later. They used a stun gun on the suspect and arrested him.

In a press briefing Wednesday, the police said Lee was a mixed martial arts light heavyweight world champion in 1990 and the teacher of Jeong Doo-hong, a martial arts movie director famous for hits “Foul King” (2000) and “Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War” (2003). He also has a level eight certificate (10 being the highest) in hapkido, a level five in taekwondo and a level seven in kendo

Kim Jeong-gi, who helped the professor, is a former Secret Service man at the Blue House.

“I tried to save the woman because the suspect was going to stab her again,” Lee said in an interview with Korean media. “I was confident of handling him because I know martial arts.”

In addition, Kim Nam-seop, a 40-year-old who was staging a rally outside the headquarters of Ssangyong Motors to protest his dismissal from a job, took off garments to make bandages for the four victims. He was helped by a few other people.

When a 30-year-old man was arrested for stabbing two former colleagues and brandishing his knife at passersby in broad daylight on a crowded street in Yeouido, western Seoul, the brave people who apprehended him weren’t in uniform.

They were ordinary people who summoned the courage to overpower the madman armed with only an umbrella, belts and a mop. Other good Samaritans ripped off their own garments to make bandages to staunch the wounds of the four people stabbed in the incident.

On Wednesday, the Yeongdeungpo Police Precinct arrested the suspect, surnamed Kim, who tried to run away after stabbing two former co-workers at a Yeouido office, a man surnamed Ahn, 30, and a woman surnamed Kim. After his arrest, the suspect said he plotted the attack because he believed he was forced to quit his job due to verbal back-stabbing by his colleagues.

As soon as the first two victims fell to the ground, the suspect tried to escape the scene. That’s when he stabbed two more people, who he thought were pursuing him.

Lee Gak-soo, 50, a martial arts professor at Myongji University in Seoul, tried to block his flight. Kim threatened him with his knife, but Lee calmly started to fight him, kicking him in the face and chest. Kim ran in the opposite direction, and Lee pursued him.

Kim ended up running into a blind alley, and at that point, another man, Kim Jeong-gi, joined Lee. Kim’s only weapon was an 80-centimeter (32 inch) umbrella. They were joined by other people wielding belts and a mop. The crowd blocked the suspect’s way and bought time until the police arrived 10 minutes later. They used a stun gun on the suspect and arrested him.

In a press briefing Wednesday, the police said Lee was a mixed martial arts light heavyweight world champion in 1990 and the teacher of Jeong Doo-hong, a martial arts movie director famous for hits “Foul King” (2000) and “Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War” (2003). He also has a level eight certificate (10 being the highest) in hapkido, a level five in taekwondo and a level seven in kendo

Kim Jeong-gi, who helped the professor, is a former Secret Service man at the Blue House.

“I tried to save the woman because the suspect was going to stab her again,” Lee said in an interview with Korean media. “I was confident of handling him because I know martial arts.”

In addition, Kim Nam-seop, a 40-year-old who was staging a rally outside the headquarters of Ssangyong Motors to protest his dismissal from a job, took off garments to make bandages for the four victims. He was helped by a few other people.

[sakwon80@joongang.co.kr]