"The Attack on Lee Jae-myung Is Terrorism Caused by Polarization and Hate-Driven Politics"

Demonization of Opponents and Hate-Driven Politics
Manifesting as Extreme Terrorism
Lee Nak-yeon's New Party and Other Reformist Moves Likely to Stall
"Any Politician Could Be Targeted"
Concerns Over Overall Political Retraction

Lee Jae-myung, the representative, being transported to Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 2nd. Photo by Yonhap News

The ruling party's leader being attacked has plunged the general election political landscape into turmoil. As past incidents such as former President Park Geun-hye's box cutter assault and former leader Song Young-gil's hammer attack are recalled, both ruling and opposition parties are closely monitoring the developments of the case. There is a strong analysis that the problem of politics, which demonizes the opposing party and continuously generates hatred, has manifested in extreme acts of terrorism.

On the 3rd, experts predicted that the attack on leader Lee Jae-myung will likely delay the formation of the ‘Lee Nak-yeon New Party.’ However, since the general election is not imminent, they assess that it will not significantly influence voters' decisions.

Park Sung-min, head of Political Consulting Min, appeared on CBS’s ‘Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show’ and forecasted that the movement to defect to Lee Nak-yeon’s new party will be limited. Park said, “Some pro-Lee Jae-myung lawmakers are discussing whether they could leave the party using this (attack on the leader) as an opportunity, but since his condition is not critical, I think they will take a breather before leaving.”

Park especially noted, “On one side, there are questions about whether he can continue performing his duties as party leader, and cautiously, there might be talks about stepping back to a secondary role,” adding, “Lee Jae-myung might resign because of this and form a unified emergency committee at this point.”

Former Environment Minister Yoon Yeo-jun also said on the radio, “Since the election is not imminent, it is hard to definitively say whether this will affect the election or not,” and predicted, “People were shocked, but I don’t think this will change their political attitudes.”

Police forces are on guard at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd, where Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was attacked by an assailant, has completed surgery and is recovering. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

There was also an assessment that the impact of the attack on leader Lee could shrink politics itself beyond partisan lines. Extreme remarks that induce political disgust, polarized factional conflicts, and ideological confrontations are manifesting as ‘political terrorism.’ Park said, “Politics is, after all, a profession at the center of conflict and exposed to the public,” adding, “It is the destiny of politicians, but since ‘all politicians’ can be targeted, (politics itself) will be greatly diminished.”

Former Minister Yoon said, “Sometimes I think that if political leaders do not start moderating their language, this will become a big problem in Korean society,” and added, “It seems like a competition over who can use more provocative language. It is getting more intense, and because they have to find newer provocative words than yesterday, the unconscious impact on the public is quite significant.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.