The attack on Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye is just shocking. Ms. Park was attacked by a man wielding a knife while she was canvassing with her party's candidate for mayor on Saturday, and when it was over she had a deep cut on her face requiring sixty stitches. It was a very dangerous situation in which her life could have been threatened had the wound been deeper. Ms. Park must be more shocked than anyone, and we wish her a speedy recovery.
Many across the country feel shock and anger at the fact that the leader of the main opposition party and a potential presidential candidate could end up in a life-threatening situation right in the middle of downtown Seoul. That is what makes the investigation so important, as it will have to be thorough enough that no questions are left unanswered. The perpetrator, a 50-year-old man by the name of Ji, is someone with an unusual background, as his mother shows signs of dementia and as he recently spent 14 years in prison for violent crimes. He has reportedly told police he was angry that he spent "a long time in prison" even though he "didn't do anything wrong," because "democracy has been diluted," and that he appealed for help with his situation but never received any assistance.
Some time later, Ji purchased an office utility knife and studied Ms. Park's campaigning schedule well in advance of the premeditated attack.
Looking at what he is telling the police, it looks like Ji wanted to express his anger at the world, but there are aspects about what happened that are hard to make sense of, such as why he felt he had to physically harm Ms. Park instead of just threaten her, and why he would make an opposition politician the target of his terrorism to begin with. Thoroughly investigating the suspect's activities and the people in his life will be critical in determining his motives, and whether or not there were any co-conspirators or people manipulating him.
The police were lax with their initial response and investigation. They arrived at the scene dozens of minutes late, and then they caused a lot of misunderstanding by hastily announcing that the suspect had committed his crime because he was inebriated. One wonders whether there were the right kind of safety measures in place for the special campaign period, during which there is frequent close contact between voters and politicians. The president and prime minister did the right thing to order a joint investigation by the police and the prosecution, given the seriousness of what happened.
The country needs to take this opportunity to make it clear that our society will not tolerate political violence. Korea carries with it a painful history in which, following liberation, political enemies were "eliminated" and violence and terror were enacted against politicians with the goal of coercing the opposition. During the days when Syngman Rhee's Liberal Party was in power, there were political gangsters on the rampage, and opposition leaders frequently found themselves attacked during Park Chung Hee's Yusin period. Since democratization, there has been the occasional egg or flour attack on politicians, but nothing like this recent incident, where someone's life was threatened. The ghosts of past political violence must not come back to life, now that they have disappeared with the maturation and permanent establishment of democracy.
Hasty political interpretations must be avoided. Ruling and opposition party leaders and major candidates temporarily suspended campaign activities and expressed outrage at the violence. However, the GNP and the ruling Uri Party define what happened differently, with the GNP calling it "political terror" and Uri calling it "election violence." This is an official campaign period and there will be intense verbal sparring between the ruling and opposition parties, which does nothing to ensure there will not be another violent incident. Politicians need to remember that they have a responsibility to handle the situation prudently and rationally.
[Editorial] Attack on Park a disgrace for democracy |
