South Korea's Supreme Court upholds life sentence for man after fatal knife attack in Seoul

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the life sentence of a man who committed a stabbing in Seoul last year that left one person dead and three others injured.

Cho Seon, 34, was charged with stabbing a 22-year-old man multiple times and attempting to kill three other men with a gun near Sillim Station in Seoul in July last year. All of the victims were completely unknown to him.

Cho initially told investigators that he wanted to hurt people who appeared happy out of feelings of inferiority. However, he later claimed that he was mentally incapable of perceiving things and making decisions – an argument that was interpreted as an attempt to gain leniency.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court sentenced him to life imprisonment, saying the verdict could not be considered unjust and there was no violation of the defendant's right to a fair trial.

The public prosecutor had demanded the death penalty for him.

Cho's stabbing, followed by another similarly fatal stabbing in Bundang, south of Seoul, two weeks later, shocked the nation and led to a flood of online posts threatening copycat attacks. (Yonhap)