Page 1 of 1

Game-addicted teenager stabs sister with knife

Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 12:50 pm
by penix
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/na ... 78149.html

Game-addicted teenager stabs sister with knife
By Chung Hyun-chae
Posted : 2015-05-01 16:58

A teenager has been arrested for allegedly stabbing his sister 11 times with a knife after playing a violent online game, police said Friday. His family said he was addicted to games.

According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, the suspect, Choi, 17, attacked his sister, 21, who was sleeping in a living room, with a 12-centimeter knife in Gwangju City, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. He will be charged with attempted murder, police said.

The sister is still being treated in hospital although her injuries are not life-threatening.

According to police, Choi called 119 after he stabbed her.
The suspect reportedly told police, "I admit that I stabbed my sister, but I don't know why I did so."

Police said Choi played violent video games for more than three hours before the attack.

The game involves the story of someone killing people while escaping from a mental hospital. It has yet to be released in Korea.

Choi played online games for hours every day.

He dropped out of high school last year and has devoted himself to computer and video games since then, so much so that he rarely goes outside, police said.

"Given that he was totally immersed in the games, we assume that he took his sister for an enemy in the game for a second," a police official said.

Police will look into his computer to figure out what kind of games he enjoyed and if there is a link between the games and the stabbing.

"We will also conduct a psychiatric examination of him," the official said.

Game addiction has long been a social issue in Korea as there have been various violent crimes including infanticide or murder perpetrated by game junkies.

Among them was a murder case in which a 22-year-old man killed his mother in 2010 for telling him not to play games.

Another homicide happened in 2010 when a man in his 20s, who was addicted to a fighting game, felt a sudden urge to kill and stabbed his neighbor.