“Despite strict gun possession restrictions, there has been a history of political violence.”
Park Geun-hye and Song Young-gil mention the attack… Mention of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement
The news of the attack on Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, which occurred on the 2nd, was also reported in major foreign media outlets.
On this day, the American media CNN posted an article on its homepage titled, ‘Korean opposition leader remains conscious after being stabbed in the neck,’ along with footage of Representative Lee carrying out his schedule before the attack.
Citing a political party official, CNN reported that “Korea’s main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck while visiting the southern city of Busan,” and that he was bleeding but conscious.
He then explained that at the time, Representative Lee was visiting the construction site of Gadeokdo New Airport and talking with reporters, and suffered a 1cm-long stab wound on the left side of his neck.
CNN said in a report that “Korean politics has been divided by deep polarization,” and that division has deepened in the years since former President Park Geun-hye was imprisoned.
In addition, regarding Representative Lee, he added, “He is a former governor of the progressive camp, and lost by a small margin to Yoon Seok-yeol of the conservative People’s Party in the March 2022 presidential election.”
The British Guardian also published an article titled ‘Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck’ on its main homepage, and attached a video of the attack to the body of the article.
The 27-second video begins with a warning that “some viewers may find future scenes distressing” when the play button is pressed.
The Guardian reported that CEO Lee suffered non-life-threatening injuries and that “photos from the scene show the attacker wearing a paper crown with CEO Lee’s name written on it.”
“Despite strict gun possession restrictions and very low overall crime rates, Korea has had a history of political violence involving many types of weapons,” he continued.
The Guardian cited the 2006 attack on former President Park Geun-hye as an example, and also mentioned the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, saying, “The student movement against the military’s takeover of power in 1980 was brutally suppressed.”
The English version of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun also reported, “Despite Korea’s low crime rate, its sometimes noisy political culture has resulted in attacks on some politicians,” and “In 2006, conservative Park Geun-hye had her face cut during a public event.”
The BBC said, “There have been many cases in the past where Korean politicians were physically attacked with weapons,” and explained that former Representative Song Young-gil, Lee’s predecessor in 2022, suffered a head injury after being attacked with a blunt object.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.