Post by victim's husband spreads across online communities

'Just endure it' — husband says station's lax response enabled attack

A subway station operations room. [Generated with AI]
A subway station operations room. [Generated with AI]

A female station worker in her 30s who was seriously injured in a knife attack by a male colleague at Wondan Station on Seoul Metro Line 3 had repeatedly asked supervisors, including the station chief, to separate her from the attacker before the incident — but her requests went unheeded, according to accounts that have emerged.

On Thursday, a post believed to have been written by the victim's husband, identified only as A, also in his 30s, spread across multiple online communities.

In the post, A said his wife had long struggled because the attacker "was unable to communicate at work, was uncooperative, and used his mental illness — bipolar disorder — as an excuse for neglecting his duties, making it impossible for her to do her job."

A said the wife had raised the issue with station managers and requested changes — including a shift swap and a transfer to another station — but that staffing shortages and the attacker's history of being turned away by multiple stations had prevented any personnel action from being taken.

A went on to say that the previous station chief had told the wife to "just endure it," and that the station had no protocol or management system for handling employees with mental health conditions — a failure that ultimately led to the attack.

A said the attacker had been hired by Korail through a quota for workers with disabilities and had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The attacker had cycled through multiple stations due to poor job performance before arriving at Wondan Station, A said, adding that the company had no workplace manual or tracking system for managing employees with such conditions.

In KakaoTalk messages between the wife and an acquaintance that A shared with JTBC, the victim described the attacker as sitting "like a statue" and wrote: "He's a little scary — the atmosphere"; "I'm not sure how to deal with him"; and "There was a reason no other station wanted him."

According to police, a report came in around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday that a male station worker in his 30s had attacked a female colleague with a knife at Wondan Station on Line 3 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

The victim sustained serious injuries to her neck and legs, with the neck bearing the brunt of the assault. Other colleagues present in the operations room at the time restrained the attacker, who was then arrested by responding officers on charges of attempted murder. Because the attack occurred inside the operations room, no passengers were involved.

A said the attacker had been carrying a sharp blade — described as resembling a mountaineering or military knife — and lured the wife into a small room inside the workplace around lunchtime by saying, "Come here for a moment. I have something to tell you," before stabbing her dozens of times across the neck, head, face, chest and arms. "My wife lost nearly 3 liters of blood and her life was in critical danger, but the medical staff at Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital miraculously managed to stop the bleeding," A said.


jshan@heraldcorp.com