Attacks targeting politicians marks run-up to elections in South Korea
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00:00 In January, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, was stabbed in the neck
00:05 by an unknown assailant.
00:08 Later that month, the deputy of the People Power Party, Bae Hyeong-jin, was struck on
00:12 the head multiple times by a teenager armed with a rock.
00:16 We meet Bae several weeks later as she hits the campaign trail ahead of National Assembly
00:21 elections on the 10th of April.
00:26 I thought I was going to die because I didn't know what my attacker was hitting me with.
00:31 It turned out to be a rock, but I didn't know that at the time.
00:34 It could have been a dangerous weapon.
00:36 That's why I was so scared.
00:41 I must admit that my heart beats faster when I'm out in public.
00:45 I'm a little traumatised.
00:47 I feel a bit scared even today, but I try to overcome it by meeting people.
00:55 South Korea has a violent political history.
00:58 Its transition from military dictatorship to democracy in the late 1980s was marked
01:02 by bloody confrontations.
01:04 Experts believe the recent attacks targeting politicians prove that tensions are running
01:09 high.
01:10 The worry is today that with political polarisation pulling the two ends of Korea apart through
01:17 news especially on YouTube in South Korea, that's where a lot of Koreans, both old and
01:22 young have started to gain their news, so these YouTube news outlets tend to provide
01:26 a very partisan look, whether it's from the right or the left, and this can tend to invigorate
01:33 people to see the other side demonise the other side, maybe view them as less than human,
01:40 which leads to these types of attacks.
01:42 Voter concerns over the rising cost of living and a prolonged strike by junior doctors have
01:47 raised the stakes for both parties in next month's elections.
01:51 The political divide is widening, but the result is too close to call.
01:55 (audience laughing)