What’s wrong with South Korean politics? Rising US-style partisan hatred fuels fears of further violence
- This month’s attacks on ruling party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin and opposition chief Lee Jae-myung may not be the last before April’s polls, observers fear
- Political polarisation is intensifying amid the demonisation of rivals, academics say, as biased online content creators peddle ‘extreme narratives’
The upticks in violence has sparked calls for reform of a political culture that tends to nurture hatred and animosity against rivals.
South Korean politicians are increasingly being met with derision and disrespect from the public for their presumed hypocrisy and egoism, said Yoon Sung-suk, a political-science professor at Chonnam National University.
“This incident vividly exemplifies the pervasive erosion of trust in politicians and an alarming decline in public respect for them”, he told This Week in Asia, referring to last week’s assault.
Bae was accosted by a 15-year-old boy with ADHD on Thursday while attempting to enter a building in Seoul. After twice asking whether she was a representative from the ruling People Power Party (PPP), Bae later told police the teen hit her with a piece of brick and continued to punch her in the head even after losing grip of his improvised weapon.
She was taken to hospital with a head wound and stayed for two nights, complaining of pain. “I thought at the moment I was dying,” Bae wrote on her Facebook page of the “unexpected” attack, calling for a though investigation and stern punishment of the assailant.