Is the Problem Blind Following, Hatred, or Fandom? Political Terror Seen Through Lee Jae-myung's Attack

Incitement of Anger, Hostility, Hatred, and Antagonism
Political Corruption in Korea... Leading to Political Terror
'If Not My Side, Then the Devil' Dichotomy Prevails
Problems with Far-Right, Far-Left, and Media Echoing

As the new year political landscape is greatly shaken by the attack on Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, voices are rising that the harmful effects of Korean politics?fostering anger, hostility, hatred, and loathing?have led to extreme political terrorism. It is said to be a tragedy born from politicians pandering to their supporters by inciting hatred and dividing people into a binary of ‘if you’re not on my side, you’re the devil,’ where retaliation and revenge are rampant.

Assaults and attacks on politicians have occurred continuously. In 2006, then-Hanara Party leader Park Geun-hye was attacked with a box cutter while campaigning for Oh Se-hoon, Seoul mayoral candidate. In 2022, former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil was struck more than three times on the head with a blunt weapon during a campaign. Other violent incidents targeted former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong and former Liberty Korea Party floor leader Kim Sung-tae in 2018. Professor Shin Yul of Myongji University’s Department of Political Science said in a phone interview with this paper on the 3rd, “Korea is a country where political terrorism occurs relatively frequently.”

Far-right and far-left polarized political discourse... Media merely echoing it is also a problem

Experts see the symbiotic structure of ‘politicians-YouTubers-media’ that incites hatred as manifesting in an extreme form in this incident. Professor Choi Chang-ryeol of Yongin University said in a phone interview with this paper, “Extreme panelists claiming far-right and far-left views appear on broadcasts, and fake news floods YouTube. Politicians post extreme remarks on social media. The media simply echo these, creating a structure where political terrorism that amplifies hostility rather than ‘compromise and coexistence’ easily occurs.” He pointed out that the problem lies in the political discourse becoming polluted due to ‘quote journalism,’ ‘live coverage of fights,’ and ‘verbatim reporting of abusive language,’ filling political news with ‘verbal fights’ that voters do not need to know about. Professor Choi said, “This is not only a threat to democracy but should be seen as a form of anti-intellectualism.”

Professor Shin Yul of Myongji University offered the interpretation that “the tendency to ‘personalize’ politics is the problem.” He said, “Because voters uncritically follow politicians, if a politician is not the one they follow, they see them as an object of hatred. The emotionalization of politics is the issue.” There is also a diagnosis that this is a phenomenon of ‘social pathology.’ Political commentator Lee Jong-hoon said, “It can be seen as an extension of problems like ‘random killings,’” adding, “When individuals isolated in a community watch polarized political news, they are more likely to plan such terrorism as a form of deviant behavior.”

Attention is also drawn to the fact that political terrorism frequently occurred during periods when left and right camps were sharply opposed. During the Cold War era of ideological confrontation or the pro- and anti-trustee movements after liberation, assassinations were rampant. In Korea, assassinations of figures such as Song Jin-woo, Jang Deok-su, Yeo Un-hyung, and Kim Gu in the 1940s are representative. Professor Choi said, “Political terrorism was frequent when far-left and far-right conflicts were severe.”

Assaults and assassinations targeting politicians worldwide... Frequent in politically underdeveloped countries

Assassination attempts on politicians tend to occur more frequently in developing countries with weak security and underdeveloped democracy, but they also happen in major countries, as in the 2022 assassination of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In 1960, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and in 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot by a mentally ill man in Washington on March 30, but the bullet hit his lung rather than his heart, and he survived after surgery. Park Sung-min, CEO of Political Consulting Min, said on the radio, “Politics is inevitably a profession at the center of conflict and exposed to the public. It is the fate of politicians, but since ‘all politicians’ can be targeted, when such incidents occur, politics becomes greatly constrained.”

Additionally, India’s Mahatma Gandhi was shot and killed on January 30, 1948, by an anti-Islam far-right youth. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was shot and killed on December 27, 2007, after campaigning in Rawalpindi as an opposition leader. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was shot and killed on November 4, 1995, in Tel Aviv by Yigal Amir, a Jewish racist youth opposing the peace agreement with Palestinians. Other victims of assassination include Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of Congo; Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden; Zoran ?inđi?, Prime Minister of Serbia; Muhammad Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt; and Rafic Hariri, Prime Minister of Lebanon.

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