NZ student who stabbed teacher joins Korean army

Tae Won Chung, pictured with his mother and sister in Seoul, is turning his life around. Photo / Supplied

A former Avondale College student who stabbed his teacher after being "taunted" about his fear of returning home to military training has been conscripted as a recruit in the South Korean Army.

A relative in Seoul says Tae Won Chung is a "born again Christian" and is adjusting well in the army, where he is undergoing basic training.

Chung stabbed his teacher David Warren in the back in 2009 after Mr Warren warned him for dozing in his Japanese class, saying "you'll be dead" if he slept while the North Koreans attacked.

Chung had earlier expressed anxiety about his homeland's volatile relationship with the north and had spoken to his teacher about how he would be conscripted if he went back.

At the time North Korea had been threatening to test-fire missiles.

Neither Chung nor his parents agreed to an interview in Seoul, but a cousin told the Herald that the family would rather see New Zealand as "a chapter they hope had never happened".

"What happened in New Zealand was an unimaginable nightmare for the family, and they just want to forget that it ever happened," said the cousin, who did not want to be named.

"Tae Won has had plenty of time to reflect and he is really sorry for the bad things that he did in New Zealand.

"But since he came back to Korea, he has found Christ again and his family and church friends are all playing a big part in helping him start life all over again." She said Chung had overcome his fear about military service and his family now hoped the army would mark a new start for him to become "an officer and a gentleman".

The cousin said what happened in New Zealand has also brought Chung a lot closer to his family and with his acne now gone, he was "hugely popular" with the girls in Seoul.

Chung acknowledged in his affidavit that he did a "horrible thing" in stabbing his teacher and said he "deeply regretted" his inability to control his anger.

"I pray every day for forgiveness and mercy," he said.

"I promise I will get help for my anger and I will try to be a better person."

Chung was jailed for 18 months and ordered to pay $10,000 reparation after he pleaded guilty to injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The attack left Mr Warren with spinal cord damage that paralysed his left leg. The Herald understands he has regained full function and movement in the leg although he still walks with a limp.

* Lincoln Tan went to Seoul as a guest of the Korea Foundation.