On Monday, a 62-year old man angry at Korea’s new favorite Japanese politician crashed a 1 ton truck into the gates of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. No one was injured (with the exception of the gates, which he damaged but failed to break down), and the man was arrested.
The man, identified simply as Mr. Kim, was protesting both the actions and words of Nobuyuki Suzuki, the Japanese politician in question, and the Dokdo/Takeshima issue. The South Korean government offered an expression of regret to the Japanese Embassy and said it would tighten security to prevent a recurrence from happening.
Surveillance camera screen shots of Mr. Kim driving his white 1-ton truck into the Japanese embassy in Seoul. (Images provided by Seoul Metropolitan Police)
For those unfamiliar with Mr. Suzuki, he is a Japanese right-wing politician who recently caused outrage in Korea when he erected a post next to the comfort women statue by the Comfort Women Museum in Seoul. He also referred to the comfort women as “prostitutes” and the statues or memorials dedicated them as “prostitute monuments”. A group of surviving comfort women has asked the Korean government to bar Suzuki from entering Korea in the future.
Mr. Kim told the police after he was arrested, “If I die, please cremate me and spread my ashes in the waters off Dokdo.”
From Nate:
Truck crashes into Japanese embassy, protesting ‘Prostitute Stake’
On the 9th at 4:55am, a Mr. Kim (age 62) crashed a 1 ton truck into the gates of the Japanese embassy located in Junghak-dong in Seoul.
Mr. Kim was arrested by the police guarding the embassy. The impact of the crash pushed the embassy’s gates inward 1 meter; however, there were no injuries.
Police are investigating his precise criminal intent based upon his own report that he was protesting the designation of comfort women as ‘prostitutes’ by the Japanese.
Comments from Nate:
조홍상:
It was the gate of the Japanese embassy that damaged one of our people’s properties. So, the Japanese government should immediately compensate him for damages!
최상기:
What a man, [how manly].
노경래:
Isn’t this man a man of great national merit? ke ke ke. He is willing to go to any expense of his own possession to express his patriotism.
김광민:
He actually did something wrong, but I feel like he did a good job.
김혜연:
ke ke ke…So they let the Japanese asshole go who put up the stake [by the comfort women statue] and arrested the old man who crashed the truck into the embassy? ke ke ke…Aren’t they completely nuts? ke ke ke
홍동관:
Give him recognition ke ke ke
정재홍:
[This old man is] a hundred times better than our government…much respect to him.
홍윤호:
“Criminal intent” seems very inappropriate [to describe this case].
김형일:
[He is] a true patriot…spanking is the best medicine for the island monkeys [Japanese].
이세영:
Kim Jang-hoon and this guy are much better for politics than a hundred trucks of Korean politicians.
박새빛:
The insurance company better cover this guy’s fine.
권상기:
What a man of merit. But our own government calls him a criminal.
김민선:
This man should be in the Blue House.
추승보:
A righteous man. [His act] warmed my heart after a while.
김두희:
[Korea] needs to compensate him for the damaged truck.
이상현:
The reporter left something out…[the old man] did a great job by putting the words “Dokdo is our land” on the front of the truck. Why did you not mention that?
김보람:
They better compensate this guy tsk tsk…
이근석:
How mad he was -_- When an individual [is compelled to] do such an action, what has our government done?
김중희:
He’s a criminal? ke ke ke. So are the patriotic martyrs An Jung-geun and Yoon Bong-gil criminals as well?
홍상우:
That guy is much better than our clueless government. He was very brave. Why is a patriot being arrested?
