Opposition floor leader attacked during hunger strike
Rep. Kim Sung-tae, floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party, continues his hunger strike at the National Assembly, Sunday, wearing a plaster bandage around his neck following an attack the day before. / Yonhap
By Choi Ha-young
Liberty Korea Party (LKP) floor leader Kim Sung-tae was attacked Saturday in front of the National Assembly main hall, by a man who demanded the main opposition party play its role for reconciliation of the two Koreas.
The attack took place while Rep. Kim was staging a hunger strike he began Thursday at the National Assembly to call for an independent counsel to investigate the online opinion-rigging scandal that allegedly involved ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker Kim Kyoung-soo.
A man in his 30s approached Kim and suddenly struck Kim on the chin. The man, who identified himself as a “jobless person who has never dated a woman,” claimed he attacked Kim to urge the LKP to promptly ratify the Panmunjeom Declaration signed by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for denuclearization of the North and improvement of inter-Korean relations.
He was arrested on the spot and is now under police investigation. Kim resumed the hunger strike after being treated at a nearby hospital.
The LKP defined the incident as a “terrorist attack against democracy,” raising suspicions the attack may be orchestrated by those against the opposition party.
“The man told police he aimed to attack LKP Chairman Hong Joon-pyo,” Rep. Shin Bo-ra, a party spokeswoman, wrote on Facebook. “It seems to be a thoroughly preplanned crime. Police should conduct a thorough investigation, finding out how and why the man made the attack and who was behind him.”
The incident is likely to intensify the Assembly deadlock which came over whether to allow an independent counsel to investigate the opinion-rigging scandal. The legislative ratification of the outcome of the inter-Korean summit has become another thorny issue, as the LKP has viewed the reconciliatory declaration as a “deceptive peace show.”
Due to the interparty confrontations, Assembly sessions have been paralyzed for more than a month, failing to pass a single bill.
But the party said it would continue the protest and Kim would continue his hunger strike. “The truth of the online opinion-rigging case should be unveiled. I will fight until a special prosecutor is commissioned to look into the case, even though my life would be in danger,” Kim said at an emergency party meeting after the attack.
The public, though, is callous to his hunger strike and even ridicules it. As of Sunday afternoon, almost 30,000 people signed the online petition at Cheong Wa Dae's website in support of installing cameras to keep watch on whether Kim is really not eating anything.