Police restrict access to a residential area in northwestern Seoul on Aug. 26, 2023, after a standoff with a man carrying weapons in the area. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Whenever there are stabbing incidents in recent days, real-time on-site videos of these events are uploaded to the Internet, causing citizens to experience fatigue.
Last Saturday, a man in his late 30s was arrested in the parking lot of a residential building in the Seoul’s northwestern ward of Eunpyeong, about 2 1/2 hours after police were sent to the scene following a report that a man was carrying weapons.
Various versions of on-site videos quickly became viral.
One video garnered 63,000 views in a single day and was reformatted into a short-form video that plays automatically, eliminating the need for a click.
“Although I dislike watching them, the photos and videos of these incidents spread excessively. I often come across them unexpectedly, causing distress,” said an office worker surnamed Seo.
Some citizens even shun exposure to news media due to the distressing videos and images.
“When high-resolution footage is distributed in a short-form style, people can be unintentionally exposed. The stabbing attacks, with unclear motives, target numerous individuals,” said Paik Jong-woo, a professor of psychiatry at Kyung Hee University Medical Center.
“Consequently, being exposed to such videos can result in indirect trauma.”
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
