Following Lee Jae-myung, Bae Hyun-jin Also Targeted... The Brutal History of Political Terror Repeated During Election Seasons

Two Politician Terror Attacks This Month
"Tragedy Born from Hate Politics" Criticized
Cases Involving Song Young-gil, Park Geun-hye, Kim Sung-tae, etc.

The political world was shocked by an unprecedented 'political terror' incident in which Bae Hyun-jin, a member of the People Power Party, was attacked just 23 days after the assault on Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea. In recent years, there has been an increase in terror attacks targeting major politicians, leading to concerns that hate politics is intensifying in our society.

Earlier, on the afternoon of the 25th, Representative Bae was struck on the back of the head by a teenage suspect who rushed at her at the entrance of a building in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, causing her to fall while bleeding. Due to the assault, Bae received about a 1 cm scalp suture and is currently resting at a nearby university hospital. A staff member from Bae’s office stated, "A man approached asking, 'Are you Representative Bae Hyun-jin?' and then struck her with a blunt weapon."

Baek Hyun-jin, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 29th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

This incident occurred less than a month after the attack on Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, on the 2nd. Lee was attacked on the left side of his neck by an unidentified man during a visit to the site of the new airport in Gadukdo and underwent treatment for about three weeks. The political community has described the daytime assault on the leader of the main opposition party as a tragedy born from hate politics.

Prior to Lee’s attack, in March 2022, Song Young-gil, then leader of the Democratic Party, was injured on the head by a man in his 60s wielding a blunt weapon while campaigning in Sinchon in support of Lee Jae-myung’s presidential bid. In May 2018, Kim Sung-tae, former floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party (predecessor of the People Power Party), was struck on the jaw during a hunger strike demanding a special prosecutor for the 'Druking' scandal.

The most similar case in the 2000s was the cutter knife attack on former President Park Geun-hye in May 2006. At that time, Park, then leader of the Grand National Party (predecessor of the People Power Party), was on stage at a campaign rally supporting Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon in Sinchon, Seoul, ahead of local elections when a man in his 50s, Ji Mo, slashed her right cheek with a cutter knife, leaving an 11 cm long wound.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was discharged from Seoul National University Hospital on the 10th, eight days after being stabbed, and was moved to tears by the cheers of his supporters. Lee will continue his treatment at home for the time being after being discharged. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

There are concerns in the political world that second and third attacks similar to the assault on Representative Bae Hyun-jin could follow. It is explained that as long as the situation continues where people cannot accept those with different ideologies and move toward extremes, political terror acts cannot be stopped.

Political commentator Lee Jong-geun said, "Watching political news every day, I wonder why everyone refuses to acknowledge the other side," adding, "This is called vitocracy, where one assumes the other side is wrong and then proceeds with political actions. This is the reality of South Korean politics."

He continued, "After the attack on Lee Jae-myung, I thought the perception that both parties had gone too far would spread widely," but "within a few days, the situation worsened with harsh mutual commentaries and accusations of fake news."

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