A teacher stabbed an eight-year-old student to death at an elementary school in South Korea on Monday, according to local media reports, citing authorities.
The teacher, a woman in her 40s, confessed to the crime after police found both her and the young girl with stab wounds at the elementary school in the central city of Daejeon. The incident occurred on Monday evening, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.
The girl was rushed to the hospital "in an unconscious state," but unfortunately, she later died. The teacher had stab wounds on her neck and arm, which authorities believe may have been self-inflicted.
Authorities noted that the teacher had taken a leave of absence due to depression before returning to the school late last year. The student was at the school for after-class child care before she was scheduled to attend a private art class.
The police found the teacher and the child around 6:00 pm (0900 GMT) after the girl’s parents reported her missing from the art class. The teacher underwent surgery for her injuries, and police planned to resume questioning her later.
South Korea has a relatively low murder rate, with 1.3 homicides per 100,000 people in 2021, according to official statistics. However, the country witnessed several violent crime incidents in 2023, including stabbings. One such incident occurred in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Seoul, where a high school teacher was reportedly attacked with a knife. Similarly, in the same week, an attacker drove a car into a pedestrian walkway in Bundang, near Seoul, and then attacked people at a department store with a knife.
This violent incident adds to the broader pattern of high-profile crime cases in South Korea.