The suspect sought to confirm the politician’s identity before striking her by asking, “are you lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin?” according to Yonhap, citing Bae’s office. Her office could not immediately be reached.
The attack comes about three weeks after the Jan. 2 attack on Lee Jae-myung, a prominent South Korean political figure and leader of the opposition party. He narrowly lost the presidential election in 2022.
A 66-year-old man approached Lee during his visit to the southern port city of Busan while pretending to be a supporter, then stabbed him in the neck with a knife. Lee was discharged from a hospital about a week later, and the suspect is under police investigation.
Bae, 40, was elected to the National Assembly in 2020 after a career as a television newscaster. She is a member of the conservative People Power Party, a minority party in parliament and the party of the South Korean president.
South Korean politics have become increasingly divisive and bitter ahead of April’s parliamentary elections, in which the Democratic Party’s majority is at stake.
Despite the back-to-back incidents this month, attacks on political figures are rare in South Korea, and past assaults have drawn international attention.
In 2022, liberal lawmaker Song Young-gil was also struck in the head with a blunt object, by an elderly man during a campaign rally in Seoul.
In March 2015, a man slashed U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert in the face, arm and leg with a kitchen knife at a breakfast forum in Seoul. The man later stated that he was attempting to disrupt U.S.-South Korean military exercises and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In 2006, a man wielding a knife slashed conservative opposition party leader Park Geun-hye in the face as she met with voters. Park was later elected president but was impeached in 2016 and sentenced to prison for corruption and abuse of power.
