Korean President Yoon condemns Trump rally shooting as 'hideous act'

Diplomacy

Published: 14 Jul. 2024, 15:02 Updated: 14 Jul. 2024, 18:47

Korean President Yoon condemns Trump rally shooting as 'hideous act'

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, center, pumps his fist at the crowd after a shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday. The Republican candidate is seen with blood on his face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is taken off the stage. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday that he was “appalled by the hideous act of political violence” after former U.S. President Donald Trump was shot in the ear during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Trump, the Republican Party's candidate for the U.S. presidential election in November, was struck in the right ear by a bullet after shots were fired during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooting left two dead, including the suspected shooter and a spectator, and two others critically injured.

“I am appalled by the hideous act of political violence,” Yoon wrote in a message shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I wish former President Trump a speedy recovery. The people of Korea stand in solidarity with the people of America.”

Kim Soo-kyung, the presidential spokesperson, said in a separate statement that the Korean government “strongly condemns any form of political violence.”

The incident was “immediately” reported to Yoon, Kim said, and the president “expressed regret and wished former President Trump a swift recovery.”

She added that the Korean government offers words of “comfort for the American people who must have been shocked by this incident,” stressing that “the Korean people stand with the American people.”

After gunshots were fired at Saturday’s rally, Trump fell to the ground and was later rushed off the stage, escorted by U.S. Secret Service agents. Trump gave a fist pump to the crowd as he was evacuated from the scene with blood streaking down his face,

“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, after the shooting.

The suspected shooter was shot and killed at the scene by a Secret Service sniper, according to U.S. law enforcement officials.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) called the shooting an “assassination attempt” against Trump. It later identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, in a statement early Sunday.

The Republican National Committee said in a statement later that Trump was “doing well and grateful to law enforcement and first responders for their fast action.”

“There is no place for this kind of violence in America,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement after the shooting, which he called “sick.”

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a ceremony for the inaugural North Korean Defectors' Day at the Blue House compound in central Seoul Sunday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

On Friday evening, Yoon returned from a five-day trip to the United States which took him to Hawaii to visit the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Washington for the NATO summit and bilateral meetings with leaders including Biden.

Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “condemned” the shooting in a statement Sunday and said that considering the gravity of the incident, the government was “closely monitoring related trends” through the ministry and the Korean embassy in the United States.

Political parties also denounced the shooting and voiced their support for the United States in the aftermath of the shooting, nodding to similar attacks on Korean politicians earlier this year.

“Political terrorism is a threat to democracy and can’t be tolerated under any circumstances,” Ho Jun-seok, spokesperson for the conservative People Power Party (PPP), said in a statement Sunday, wishing Trump a speedy recovery.

Ho called such acts a result of “politics of extremism and hate,” stressing that “politicians have a responsibility to unite society through understanding and harmony.”

He recalled that Korean people were also greatly shocked by attacks earlier this year on former Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung and PPP Rep. Bae Hyun-jin.

On Jan. 2, then-DP chief Lee was stabbed in the neck with a knife by a man claiming to be a supporter asking for an autograph during a visit to Gadeok Island in Busan ahead of the April 10 general election.

On Jan. 25, Bae was struck on the head multiple time with a rock by a teenager in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

Both politicians recovered fully.

DP spokesperson Han Min-soo said his party recalled the “act of terrorism against former Chairman Lee” and, likewise, that “political terrorism is a serious challenge to democracy” that “can’t be justified for any reason.”

Lee said in a statement Sunday that he “strongly condemns the assassination attempt against Trump” and stressed that “violence and terrorism must not be tolerated for any reason.”

Update, July 14: Added statements from Kim Soo-kyung, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, the FBI, the Republican National Committee, Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ho Jun-seok, Lee Jae-myung and Han Min-soo.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]