The national police will launch special operations to maintain public security following a stabbing spree in Gyeonggi Province's Bundang District on Thursday night that came just two weeks after a similar rampage occurred near Seoul's Gwanak District.

The head of the National Police Agency, Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun, said in an emergency statement on Friday that the police will conduct such activities to tackle heinous crimes until the public’s concerns are eased.

He said that the police will selectively stop and search those suspected of possessing weapons or displaying abnormal behavior in accordance with legal procedures.

For crimes that involve the wielding of weapons, Yoon ordered the force to actively use firearms or Tasers. The police agency plans to apply immunity for officers who use guns to subdue suspects in such crimes.

Yoon added that the police will strongly deal with online threats of copycat crimes involving weapons, stressing that the force will mobilize its full investigative capacity to swiftly locate and apprehend those who upload such posts and impose the harshest penalty possible.