Driver stabbed by 'friend' after car crash

A late-night drive between two friends in a northern suburb of Seoul on Nov. 29 took a sinister turn, leaving one man hospitalized and the other under investigation for attempted murder.

According to the Ilsan Dongbu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province on Monday, an Uzbekistani man in his 20s is under investigation for allegedly attempting to murder a Kyrgyzstani man of the same age group. The two men were friends, both working in South Korea under valid work permits.

According to investigators, the victim was driving a car with the suspect in the passenger's seat on Nov. 29, when he crashed the car near the Goyang Interchange in the Goyang city section of the Capital Region First Ring Expressway at around 11 p.m.

When first responders arrived at the scene, they found the driver bleeding from his neck and chest from what appeared to be knife wounds. He was immediately taken to the intensive care unit at a nearby hospital. His injuries were not life-threatening.

The passenger confessed to having stabbed him. He told police that he attacked the victim after the accident because he was angry, but did not specify exactly why he did so.

Police are investigating the suspect for attempted murder based on the fact that he inflicted multiple wounds with a knife, which was found inside the car. They will also further investigate the motive of the crime, including through a forensic analysis of the suspect's phone.