Charges sought against kindergarten knife man

South Korean police were today seeking permission from a court to press charges against a 53-year-old man who stabbed 10 kindergarten children during a 30 minute rampage.

Three of the children – aged four to seven – were seriously hurt in the attack in the basement cafe of a church. Seven others sustained minor injuries.

The man, identified only as Hwang, said he heard a voice telling him to kill people if he wanted to save his own life, police said.

At one point, he said Kim Il Sung, the late founder and Stalinist president of North Korea, instructed him to kill people, local media said.

Hwang has a record of mental illness, but without a court warrant to press attempted murder charges he can only be held in custody for 48 hours.