Stabbing Crime Said to be Movie Copycat in Korea

On December 24, 2004, the Korean newspaper, The Chosun Ilbo published an article, "Copycat Murder in Japan Seems Based on Korean Movie." A multiple stabbing of a Vietnamese-American on Dec. 2 at a consulting firm in Tokyo is felt to be a copycat of a scene in the Korean blockbuster movie "Friends." The victim was found in a pool of blood after being stabbed over thirty times. The knife's handle was wrapped in tape and bandages, a rare practice in Japan. The foresnic details and the ferocity of the attack were similar to the well-known movie scene in "Friends," which opened in theaters in 2001. It was a huge box-office hit in Korea and was also aired in Japan.