New details are coming to light in the story of the man who attempted to take his own life in front of the "Today" show set on Thursday. Apparently, the man's actions were spurred by what he believed to be unfair action taken against him by the IRS.

The man, Pak Chong Mar, approached the set in Rockefeller Plaza early Thursday morning after several attempts to pass out notes to others explaining his dilemma. When nobody responded to his more civil cry for help, he turned a knife on himself.

"I saw him take slice after slice. I saw the blood gushing," said Kellie Ostransky of Arizona. "The first thing I thought about was that soldier in London, and I thought, 'Oh, my God, this is happening!'"

Ostransky is referring to an incident that occurred late last month in London when two men brutally killed a British soldier in the middle of the day. They remained near the corpse during the aftermath, even speaking to cameras before the police arrived.

For Pak, the situation was a bit different. He was worried about his financial situation after making considerable money in the stock market. Before that he had worked menial jobs just to get by. He has stated that his actions were out of pure desperation.

"I had to do something desperate to fight the corruption, fight the IRS...If I don't do something drastic, sooner or later these guys are going to kill me anyway. I couldn't even pay rent this month."

Pak, who is either 72 or 76 depending on who you listen to, claims that he made millions of dollars in the stock market but that the IRS is trying to take away all of his money. He says that they had already seized $300,000 and were now attempting to get another $1 million from him.

"He has these big overwhelming issues, the IRS, getting evicted. It's the stress. It's really gets to him. In those moments, he feels as if he doesn't have any help," said his daughter, Lisa Yu Paks, 40.

It has been confirmed that this was not the first time that Pak has taken extreme measures in public. Pak is reported to be the same man who cut off three of his fingers and threw them into the crowd during the 1995 Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing, N.Y.

"I think it's a cry for help. If it was suicidal he would have done something much more drastic. He can't figure out his stock trading situation. He needs someone to help him sort it all out," his daughter observed.