By Yi Whan-woo
Two murders in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, have sent a shockwave through the district, marring its image as an affluent, safe area in the nation’s capital.
The ex-wife of a K-pop band member was stabbed to death at a bar in Sinsa-dong early Wednesday by a 38-year-old suspect. He also slashed at three men with her, leaving one of them seriously injured.
Gangnam police said the 36-year-old victim, surnamed Kang, was the former wife of Kim Sung-soo, a rapper in the mixed trio group “Cool.” She was having a drink with the three men and a close friend, Chae Ri-na, a member of now-disbanded K-pop girl band “Diva.”
An investigator said the suspect, surnamed Jegal, who was arrested Wednesday evening, became furious after the five refused his request to lower their voices at the bar.
He attacked them with a knife after fetching it from inside the trunk of his Mercedes. The seriously injured man is Park Yong-guen, a professional baseball player for the LG Twins in the local league. He is in a critical condition in hospital after suffering deep cuts to the ribs and stomach.
Police said Kang was stabbed in the chest and pronounced dead shortly after she was taken to hospital. Detectives added that Chae was uninjured.
Police said that employees failed to take appropriate measures to protect their customers as they hid when the incident occurred.
In a murder case on Tuesday, a 29-year-old suspect surnamed Oh, entered the house of his ex-girlfriend by pretending to be an express mail delivery person. He then stabbed his 31-year-old ex-girlfriend, surnamed Choi, in the back twice. She was found dead at the scene.
Investigators said Choi’s lover, identified as a man surnamed Park, was with her at the time of the incident and fought against Oh. Oh was killed during the scuffle, while Park was seriously injured and is in critical condition in hospital.