South Korea’s ruling party leader attacked ahead of presidential election
- Democratic Party’s Song Young-gil assaulted in Seoul by man who reportedly approached him from behind, struck him on head with hammer
- Song, campaign manager for presidential hopeful Lee Jae-myung, in stable condition in hospital, suspect in police custody
The leader of South Korea’s ruling party was hospitalised on Monday after being attacked while campaigning for this week’s presidential election, a race already overshadowed by controversy and in which early voting has been marred by irregularities.
Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil was attacked in Seoul by a man wearing a traditional robe who approached him from behind and struck him on the head with a small hammer, a video uploaded to YouTube by a Democrat campaigner showed.
Reuters could not independently verify the images, but party officials said Song was in a stable condition and a suspect was in police custody.
Both men on Monday condemned the attack on Song, who is also Lee’s campaign manager.
“Violence harms democracy, it can never be accepted,” Lee told another rally in the southeastern port city of Busan, and wished Song a rapid recovery.
