Police seek arrest of attacker

Kim Sung-tae, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party / Yonhap

Police said Sunday they are seeking an arrest warrant for a man who beat the floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, an incident that aggravated an ongoing partisan standoff.

The 31-year-old man, identified only by his surname Kim, hit the chin of Rep. Kim Sung-tae with his fist on Saturday as the lawmaker was walking up the stairs toward the bathroom in the National Assembly's main building.

The lawmaker has been on a hunger strike since Thursday, calling for an independent counsel investigation into an online opinion rigging scandal involving a blogger with alleged ties to ruling party lawmaker Kim Kyung-soo.

Police said they will request a court warrant to arrest him as early as Sunday afternoon.

After the assault, the suspect yelled to reporters to express his hatred toward the conservative opposition party and call for the parliament to cooperate in promoting inter-Korean reconciliation.

"Let's achieve the reunification of the Korean Peninsula. Is it that difficult for the parliament to ratify the declaration?'" he was quoted as saying by LKP spokesman Chang Je-won.

In a historic inter-Korean summit last week, the leaders of the two Koreas signed the so-called Panmunjom Declaration to affirm their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The National Assembly has been paralyzed over the past month as the parties have been at loggerheads over sensitive issues, including the online opinion rigging scandal, ahead of June local elections.

The violent attack on Kim led to the cancellation of a planned negotiation among floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, which was aimed at seeking a breakthrough for the stalled parliament. (Yonhap)