South Korean ruling party lawmaker attacked on street

Seoul: South Korean ruling party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin was attacked by an unidentified assailant on an street in Gangnam on Thursday during which she sustained head injuries.

A male pedestrian walked up to Bae and asked, "Are you the lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin?" and struck her in the back of the head with a rock the size of an adult man's fist, Yonhap news agency reported quoting the lawmaker's office as saying

Bae was rushed to Soonchunhyang University Hospital with her head bleeding. Bae remained conscious and her injury is not believed to be life threatening.

The suspect was arrested by police.

Bae, 40, is a former television news anchor who was elected to her first term in the National Assembly in 2020. She briefly served as a spokesperson for then President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022.

The attack on Bae comes some three weeks after Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the southeastern city of Busan.