A police line is set up near Sillim Station in Seoul on July 21, 2023, after a man went on a stabbing rampage there killing one man and wounding three others. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — As shown in the recent stabbing rampage near Sillim Subway Station in southwestern Seoul, explosive impulse-control disorder goes beyond personal emotions and is expressed in the form of crime against others.
According to data from the National Police Agency, 19.1 percent of the 1,247,680 reported crimes in 2021 were not premeditated, making them the most common type of crime.
Among acts of violence against another individual, 44.7 percent (118,254 cases) were impulsive actions, not premeditated.
Additionally, out of 716 cases of murder or attempted murder, 34.4 percent (246 cases) were not premeditated, while 5.4 percent (39 cases) were motivated by spite against reality.
Unlike crimes based on personal disputes, crimes that target society and the public often take the form of indiscriminate assault, with few or no preceding indicators or ways to prevent them.
Experts argue that in a fiercely competitive society, the accumulated sense of anger caused by societal frustration and stress explodes in the form of violent crime against another person.
“The sense of frustration is building among the so-called ‘forgoing generation’, or those in their 20s and 30s, as society becomes ever more rigid, and employment and housing problems become increasingly difficult,” said Han Min, a psychology professor at Ajou University.
Crimes caused by explosive impulse-control disorder should not be regarded as the result of personal problems.
Rather, the phenomenon is the consequence of a lack of a proper social safety net that can prevent such kinds of crimes, experts say.
“In the end, society should work on lowering individual experiences of frustration,” Han said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
