SEOUL: South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol has called an assault by a minor against a ruling party legislator this week an act of “terrorism”, his office stated on Friday.
MP Bae Hyun-jin was assaulted on Thursday by a minor who repeatedly struck her on the back of the head with a rock in Seoul.
The lawmaker has since been hospitalized and is recovering, following medical staff used a stapler to perform two sutures to treat a non-life-threatening, one-centimetre scalp injury, doctors said.
Police have identified the attacker as a 15-year-old minor, according to a local news agency, which reported he was ordered hospitalized for observation.
South Korea’s President Labels Assault on MP Act of ‘Terrorism’
The assault came just weeks following opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck while talking to media persons in the port city of Busan.
Yoon said that the terrorism against political leaders, who are representatives of the people, is no different from terrorism against the people.
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Yoon’s statement come a day following both the ruling People Power Party and opposition Democratic Party characterized the incident as an act of political terrorism in the country.
South Korea is making arrangements for crucial polls on April 10, in which President Yoon’s conservative party aims to regain a majority for the first time since 2016.
Police said the recent stabbing of the opposition leader Lee was meticulously organized by a well-prepared assailant who “wanted to stop the politician from becoming president” of the South Korea.
Lee underwent surgery following he was stabbed on January 2 and returned to work around two weeks later.
In 2006, Park Geun-hye, who was then the leader of the conservative party and later became president of South Korea, was also assaulted with a knife during a rally.
