South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday condemned as "intolerable" an assault on opposition leader Park Geun-hye ahead of the country's mayoral and gubernatorial elections this month.
"In a democracy, terrorism or violence must not be tolerated under any circumstances in the electioneering. It is intolerable," Roh told a group of his aides, calling for a thorough probe of the incident.
Park, chairwoman of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), sustained an 11cm cut to her face on Saturday when a man armed with a box cutter attacked her while she was canvassing in downtown Seoul, police said.
The slash from her right ear to her jaw required Park to have some 60 stitches in a two-hour operation, but her life was not in danger, according to doctors at the Yonsei University's Severance Hospital where she was treated.
ATTACKER HELD
The attacker, identified only as Ji, 50, was being held by police for questioning. Police also detained another man, known as Park, for a disturbance nearby at the time of the assault.
Seoul police chief Han Jin-ho said in a report yesterday that the two denied knowing each other. Ji had previously been jailed for more than 14 years for eight separate violent crimes.
"Ji claims that he launched the attack out of anger at his unfair imprisonment for nearly 15 years despite his innocence and no help from the authorities despite his appeals," Han said.
"We will thoroughly investigate it," he said.
Police said Park, a second suspect in the case, was a supporter of the ruling Uri Party.
The Uri Party immediately revoked his party membership.
Park Geun-hye was recuperating yesterday after surgery at the Yonsei hospital and received a number of well-wishers, including former president Kim Yong-sam and other key party officials.
"The operation proceeded well. Luckily, her facial nerves did not get harmed," Tak Kwan-chol, one of the hospital's doctors, said yesterday.
RECUPERATION
Park will be hospitalized for at least a week, but won't be able to speak well for months due to her injuries, he said.
Park had been campaigning for the GNP candidates running in May 31 elections to select mayors and governors as well as local assembly seats.
Park, a daughter of former president Park Chung-hee who ruled from 1961 to 1979, is one of the leading candidates for next year's presidential elections.
The GNP is the country's largest opposition party, with 125 seats in the 297-member assembly. The ruling Uri Party has 142 seats.
Park Geun-hye's mother, Yook Young-soo, was fatally shot in 1974. Five years later, Park's father was assassinated by the then chief of the state intelligence agency.
Local reports suggested the attack on Park Geun-hye would actually increase support for the GNP in the upcoming elections.
Prime Minister Han Myung-sook ordered the prosecution and the police to launch a joint investigation into the incident and prepare safety guidelines for politicians and candidates running in the elections.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude