Prosecutors yesterday sought an arrest warrant on attempted murder charges for a suspect in a slashing attack on South Korea's main opposition leader, an official said.
Ji Choong-ho, 50, is accused of cutting the face of Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the Grand National Party (GNP), with a box-cutter on Saturday -- leaving an 11cm cut on the right side of her face.
The smiling GNP leader was wading through a crowd of supporters and climbing the steps to a podium when a hand shot up from her right and swung across her cheek.
Ji was detained after the attack, and prosecution official Nam Ho-hyun said yesterday that authorities were pursuing the warrant on attempted murder charges.
If convicted, Ji could face more than five years in prison, Nam said.
Prosecutors also requested an arrest warrant against Park Jong-yeol, who was with Ji at the scene, on charges of violating election laws and damaging property, Nam said.
Both suspects deny knowing each other, prosecutors said.
Park, 54, is the daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, who was assassinated in 1979. Her mother had been gunned down in 1974.
Park was recovering in a hospital after receiving 60 stitches from the assault at a campaign rally ahead of May 31 local elections.
Physicians said the cut barely missed an artery behind her jaw bone, slicing through the salivary gland and facial muscles, meaning Park will be unable to speak normally or chew for several weeks. She will be permanently scarred.
However, Park Chang-il, head of Severance Hospital, said yesterday that Park Geun-hye was "recovering fast" from surgery.
"She still complains of frequent pain," Park told reporters. "But she seems to have quite stabilized."
Ji planned the attack after finding out about the party's campaign rally schedule, Lee said yesterday.
While in prison before he was released last August, Ji was involved in five assault cases and had strongly criticized the Grand National Party in the course of investigations of those attacks, Lee said.
Last December, Ji was detained for attacking a GNP lawmaker, but was released when the lawmaker dropped charges.
The conservative GNP is the country's largest opposition party, with 125 seats in the 297-member assembly.
The ruling Uri Party has 142 seats. Uri has wished Park a speedy recover but warned the opposition against trying to gain political mileage.
"The insinuation at [a GNP] party meeting that the Uri Party might be involved shows the intention to use the assault for political purposes," Uri Party spokesman Woo Sang-ho told reporters. "It is regrettable."
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
Dozens of residents have evacuated remote islands in southern Japan that have been shaken by nearly 1,600 earthquakes in recent weeks, the local mayor said yesterday. There has been no major physical damage on hardest-hit Akuseki island, even after a magnitude 5.1 quake that struck overnight, said Toshima Mayor Genichiro Kubo, who is based on another island. However, the almost nonstop jolts since June 21 have caused severe stress to area residents, many of whom have been deprived of sleep. Of the 89 residents of Akuseki, 44 had evacuated to the regional hub of Kagoshima by Sunday, while 15 others also left another
CEREMONY EXPECTED: Abdullah Ocalan said he believes in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons, and called on the group to put that into practice The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group yesterday renewed a call for his fighters to lay down their arms, days before a symbolic disarmament ceremony is expected to take place as a first concrete step in a peace process with the Turkish state. In a seven-minute video message broadcast on pro-Kurdish Medya Haber’s YouTube channel, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps. “It should be considered natural for you to publicly ensure the disarmament of the relevant groups in a way that addresses the expectations
RSS