Teenage assailant of ruling party lawmaker put under emergency hospitalization

Police on Friday hospitalized the teenage assailant of ruling party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin, citing his age and health conditions, officials said. The 15-year-old boy, known to be a middle school student, was detained Thursday afternoon shortly after attacking Bae of the ruling People Power Party with a rock the size of an adult man's fist in Seoul's southern district of Gangnam for unclear reasons. Bae, a television news anchor-turned-lawmaker, was struck on the head 15 times. She was taken to Soonchunhyang University Hospital and had her bleeding wound stapled. She remains hospitalized there. Police questioned the suspect in the presence of his guardian and put him under "emergency hospitalization" early Friday morning, police officials said. "The suspect's status as a minor and his current health conditions were taken into consideration," a police official said, adding police plan to thoroughly look into his crime, including the motive. Under the emergency hospitalization system, individuals with suspe cted mental illness can be put into a mental hospital for a maximum duration of three days over the urgent risk of inflicting harm on themselves or others. Source: Yonhap News Agency