1 dead, 1 critically injured in lotto ticket dispute stabbing in northern Seoul

A restaurant in Seoul’s Gangbuk District was the site of a fatal stabbing Sunday. Yonhap

One of two restaurant owners attacked in a stabbing in Seoul’s Gangbuk District has died, police said Monday, after a man in his 60s assaulted the couple in a dispute over a promotional lottery ticket.

According to the Gangbuk Police Station, one of the victims — a husband-and-wife team in their 60s who ran the restaurant — died from injuries sustained in the attack, while the other remains in critical condition after surgery.

The suspect, also in his 60s, was arrested at the scene on Sunday afternoon on charges of attempted murder, which were later upgraded to murder.

Police said the man attacked the couple at their restaurant in Suyu-dong, allegedly shouting that they “refused to give him a lotto ticket.”

Witnesses said the restaurant, which reopened in July, had been offering 1,000-won ($0.73) lottery tickets as a promotion to cash-paying customers. The suspect had visited the restaurant the day before but did not receive a ticket.

When he returned the next day and was told that the event did not apply on Sundays, he became enraged and pulled out a knife from his pocket, according to police.

He was subdued by police officers who arrived after receiving an emergency call. “He was standing on the street holding a knife when someone kicked it away," a nearby bakery owner told Yonhap News Agency. "He seemed drunk. One of the restaurant owners, even while bleeding, stood up and tried to help subdue him.”

Police said they plan to seek an arrest warrant for the suspect Monday.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.