A 14-year-old boy was responsible for hitting a South Korean lawmaker with a rock. He was sent to a mental health facility on Friday, as the police keep looking into the attack.
Last Thursday, a member of the ruling party, Bae Hyunjin, was attacked. This happened shortly after another man stabbed opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in the neck. This raises more worries about the harsh and divided political discussions in the country.
Police talked to the young suspect at the hospital while his parents were there. They will keep asking him questions to find out more. Cheon Young-gil, who works at the Gangnam district police station in Seoul, shared this information.
South Korea’s rules say that if doctors and police agree, a person who might be mentally ill can be sent to the hospital for up to three days to make sure they don’t hurt themselves or others.
Cheon did not want to talk about the suspect’s health after the attack on Thursday in southern Seoul. South Korean media said that people who know the boy but want to stay unnamed, said that he was getting help for feeling very sad.
Cheon said that the suspect was taken to the hospital quickly because of his age and health, but didn’t give any more details. He said if the boy’s parents agree, the police can ask the hospital to keep him there for more than three days.
The police spoke with Bae on Friday at the hospital where she was getting treatment. Bae’s office shared pictures of her coat and sweater with blood on them. People say these were given to the police as proof.
The reason for the attack was not immediately known.
Bae was chosen in 2020 and is considered a close friend of President Yoon Suk Yeol. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office promised to do a deep investigation of the attack. Politicians from both Yoon’s party and the liberal opposition have criticized the attack as an attack on the country’s democracy. “Our politics are not on the right track anymore. ” We all agree that we should stop the hateful politics, but we still use harsh language towards our opponents. The old-fashioned style of politics that only appeals to the most extreme supporters is still going strong, according to Jung Kwang-jae, a spokesperson for the People Power Party.
In South Korea, politics is very divided. People have different opinions based on their age, beliefs, and where they live. The arguments between political parties are getting worse before the upcoming elections in April. The elections are seen as a way to see if Yoon is popular. He has low approval ratings and the opposition controls the National Assembly, so it’s hard for him to do what he wants.
The security camera video showed the person who attacked Bae. They wore a gray hat and a mask and talked to Bae before hitting her with a small rock. He kept hitting Bae with a sharp tool, even after she dropped to the ground. She fought off the attacker by herself, using her arms to push him away and grabbing his wrist. Then, someone else came out of a door and tried to help.
The leader of the other group, Lee, was in the hospital for eight days after he was attacked. He talked about the attack on Bae and said that his scar hurts again because of this terrible event. He also said that he hopes she gets better soon.
Lee almost won the 2022 election, but Yoon won. The person who attacked Lee said he did it because he didn’t want Lee to become president.
South Korea has experienced more attacks on politicians lately.
In 2022, Song Young-gil, who was the leader of Lee’s Democratic Party, was attacked by a man with a hammer during a rally to support Lee’s campaign for president. The song needed stitches but didn’t get seriously hurt.
In 2006, a man attacked Park Geun-hye, who was a conservative opposition leader, with a box cutter during an election event. Park, who later became president in 2012, had to get 60 stitches to close an 11-centimeter (4-inch) cut on her face.