At least 13 people were injured in South Korea's southern Gyeonggi province on Thursday after a man rammed a car onto a sidewalk and then stepped out to stab people near a subway station in the city of Seongnam, news agency AP reported. An official from the southern Gyeonggi provincial police department named Yoon Sung-hyun informed that at least nine people were stabbed and four others were injured when the car rammed onto the sidewalk. The unidentified suspect was arrested at the scene and is being questioned by the police.


The attack took place near Seohyeon station which is about 20 km (12.43 miles) from Seoul. The motive of the attack remains unclear as the suspect is being questioned.


According to the Police, 12 of the victims had been hospitalised, news agency Reuters reported.


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Following the attack, the National Police Agency held an online meeting later Thursday with regional police chiefs to deliberate on ways to tackle stabbings and other attacks against random targets, as per AP's report.


During the meeting, Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun called the attack “virtually an act of terrorism”, AFP reported. The officials spoke about enhancing nighttime patrols in leisure districts and other crowded areas while also strengthening security camera surveillance.


“The attack [near the] Seohyeon station is really terrifying,” a user wrote on Twitter, now rebranded as X. “How can we feel safe and comfortable going outside with incidents like this happening?”


This incident comes after a man stabbed at least four pedestrians on a street in the capital, Seoul, leading to the death of one person, police said. In this case too, the man was arrested at the scene, the Yonhap news agency reported. 


"When police came, he said something along the lines of he didn't want to live, that things weren't going as he wished," a witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told South Korean broadcaster YTN, as quoted by Reuters.


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