Teacher admits to stabbing 8-year-old girl to death in South Korea

The motive of the attack remains unclear

File. Representative image. Police officers in Seoul, South Korea (Getty Images)

An elementary school teacher has admitted to fatally stabbing an eight-year-old girl in the central city of Daejeon in South Korea.

The teacher, who is in her 40s, is currently in hospital for self-inflicted wounds on her neck and arms and has not been arrested as investigations continue, according to local media reports.

The eight-year-old had been at her elementary school in Daejeon, 160km south of Seoul, for after-class childcare before she was supposed to attend a private art class.

An official from the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education said during a media briefing on Tuesday that the girl was found by her grandmother at around 6.00pm local time on Monday after the parents reported her missing from the art class.

The motive of the attack remains unclear, and police have not found a personal connection between the teacher and the victim.

A local fire department official told Reuters that the teacher had sustained stab wounds to her neck and face. The teacher underwent surgery for her injuries, and police plan to resume questioning her once she recovers, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Representative image: Police officers stand guard in Seoul, South Korea (Getty Images)

During a cabinet meeting, acting president Choi Sang Mok expressed condolences over the child’s death and instructed the education ministry and authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.

While South Korea generally has a low murder rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people – below the global average of six per 100,000 – the country saw several high-profile violent crimes in 2023, including multiple stabbings.

Among the violent incidents last year were a subway station stabbing that left one dead and three wounded, an attack on a high school teacher in Daejeon, and a knife-wielding assailant driving into pedestrians before attacking shoppers in Bundang.

Last year, South Korea’s liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck during a public event in Busan.