Seoul, Jul 30 (IANS): A man died after being attacked by a neighbour wielding a traditional Japanese sword in a residential apartment complex in northwestern Seoul, police said Tuesday.

The stabbing happened late Monday, when the 43-year-old attacker brandished the 75-centimeter blade at the victim, 37, who was outside smoking near the front gate of their apartment complex in Seoul's Eunpyeong district, the police said.

The victim, an employee of a furniture company and father of two boys, was taken to a hospital but later died, reports Yonhap news agency.

The police apprehended the attacker about an hour after the attack. The attacker had gone back home right after the stabbing.

The attacker told the police that he stabbed the man because he suspected him as "a spy who kept on following him."

An initial police investigation found that the perpetrator and the victim barely knew each other and he had only come across the victim when he was taking a walk.

Records showed that officers had been dispatched following complaints about the attacker yelling and hurling insults, the police said.

The attacker was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the stabbing, the police added.

The police plan to get a court warrant for a drug test on the assailant after he refused to take one with consent. They will also apply for an arrest warrant.

The attacker obtained a permit to own the sword in January for decorative purposes, the police said.