Radical left-wing YouTuber attacks liberal ruling party leader during campaigning
Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Song Young-gil / Korea Times file
A YouTuber in his 70s attacked ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Song Young-gil with a hammer during a campaign stop in Seoul Monday, causing him injuries requiring stitches in the head, according to party officials.
Song was campaigning in Seoul's Sinchon area for Wednesday's presidential election when the assailant came up to him from behind and struck him in the head several times with a hammer wrapped in a black plastic bag, video footage showed.
Song was rushed to a nearby hospital with bleeding from his head and received stitches, DP officials said.
The assailant was immediately restrained by people at the scene and taken into police custody.
He was identified as a 70-year-old YouTuber who was filming with his phone before attacking Song and appeared to have been following the chairman on the campaign trail since last month in videos uploaded to YouTube.
Police said they are questioning the suspect on charges of violating the Election Law and assault.
According to an eyewitness, the man shouted at the scene that he opposes South Korea-U.S. military exercises and cannot stand to leave behind such a world to young people.
The DPK presidential campaign committee said in a statement it "strongly condemns" the attack as a "serious threat to democracy."
DPK presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung spoke to Song by phone after hearing the news while campaigning in the southeastern city of Busan, the committee said. (Yonhap)