15-year-old who attacked lawmaker with a rock also ‘threw coffee at actor Yoo Ah-in’

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15-year-old who attacked lawmaker with a rock also ‘threw coffee at actor Yoo Ah-in’

Published: 01 Feb. 2024, 11:49

Left, footage of People Power Party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin being attacked by a 15 year-old on Jan. 25. Right, footage of actor Yoo Ah-in briefly turning around when a coffee was thrown at him at the parking lot of Mapo police station on May 24, 2023. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The person who threw coffee at actor Yoo Ah-in when leaving the Mapo police station in May last year is reportedly the same 15-year-old who attacked People Power Party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin last month.

Yonhap News TV reported on Wednesday that the teenager called the newsroom in December and confessed to throwing coffee at the actor.

The individual, who identified himself, claimed that he was infuriated by reports of alleged drug use by the actor, whom he claimed he disliked.

He also sent a picture of himself to the newsroom.

The actor, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, was at the Mapo police station in Seoul on May 24, waiting for the court to decide on his arrest warrant.

Yoo was heading to his vehicle at 11:40 p.m., 10 minutes after the court denied the arrest warrant when he was hit with the coffee which was thrown at his back.

Although he looked back for a moment, he was quickly ushered into the waiting van.

On Jan. 25, PPP lawmaker Bae was attacked by a teenager while entering a building to visit a hair salon on the second floor.

After confirming Bae’s identity twice, the teenager struck the lawmaker with a rock 17 times within 18 seconds before being stopped by employees from a restaurant on the first floor of the same building.

The teenager told investigators that he attacked Bae because she was doing a bad job as a politician.

He claimed the attack was impulsive as he was waiting in front of the building, hoping to run into celebrities, as the hair salon is known to have celebrity clients.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]