TWO South Korean police officers were stabbed outside a compound that houses the presidential office in Seoul, the Yonhap news agency reported today. 

The 77-year-old assailant, identified by his surname Park, began yelling in front of the compound and stabbed the officers as they tried to subdue him, the report said. 

One officer was stabbed in the stomach and the other in the left arm, and both were being treated in hospital, it said. The man was arrested at the scene, according to the report. 

South Korean broadcaster YTN showed blurred footage of a man being held down by several officers. 

After taking office last year, President Yoon Suk-yeol relocated the presidential office to the central Yongsan district, moving away from the Blue House, which had served as the presidential residence for decades. 

South Korea has been shaken by a series of stabbings this year, including an incident in which two people were killed and a dozen more wounded after being attacked near a department store. 

South Korea is typically an extremely safe country, with a murder rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people in 2021, according to official statistics. 

By comparison, the United States has 7.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. – AFP, October 31, 2023.