January 26, 2024
SEOUL – People Power Party Rep. Bae Hyun-jin was struck multiple times in the head with a blunt object by a teenage assailant on Thursday, police said.
Bae was entering a building in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul, when she was attacked at around 5:18 p.m., according to a report filed with the police. The report identified the blunt object as a stone.
The 41-year-old TV broadcaster-turned-lawmaker was immediately rushed to the hospital.
Bae suffered a “1-centimeter laceration” on her scalp, but no life-threatening injuries, a doctor at the hospital told a group of reporters in a briefing. The doctor explained that Bae was conscious when she arrived at the hospital and there were no signs of concussion.
Bae has a minor symptom of internal bleeding in her brain and the hospital plans to run a magnetic resonance imaging scan on her, the official added.
The assailant was identified as an underage male by the Seoul Gangnam Police Station after being detained and booked by police soon after the attack. His motive is yet to be revealed.
Police said that other key details of the identity of the suspect, including his name, will be legally withheld, considering his age. They said they were still in the process of questioning him.
The suspect reportedly began striking the lawmaker repeatedly in the head with the blunt object after asking if she was Bae Hyun-jin.
Thursday’s attack comes less than a month after Democratic Party of Korea Chair Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck by a 67-year-old man in Busan. The incident has raised concerns over safety during street campaigning ahead of April’s general election.
People Power Party Interim Chair Han Dong-hoon visited Bae in the hospital and called for a “thorough investigation on the matter and a tough punishment for the assailant.”
Lee Jae-myung wished Bae a swift recovery and said “any form of political terrorism” should not be condoned, through his Facebook post.