Park Sun-won, the ruling party secretary of the Intelligence Committee, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, said the National Intelligence Service confirmed that a person surnamed Kim, who wielded a weapon in the 2024 stabbing attack on President Lee Jae-myung that was designated as a terror attack, was influenced by hardline conservative YouTubers.
After the full meeting of the Intelligence Committee on the 12th, Park said at a briefing that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) "said, 'It seems certain that the (president's) terrorist was influenced by Ko Sung-kuk, that is, by a far-right YouTuber,'" and stated accordingly.
Park said, "Regarding the 'Gadeokdo stabbing terror police task force (TF),' a lawmaker asked, 'There are indications that the terrorist had prior coordination with Ko Sung-kuk, a conservative YouTuber,'" and added, "The National Intelligence Service (NIS) also said regarding whether there was a call between Ko Sung-kuk and the terrorist, which has been rumored, 'We understand that there was (a call).'"
He went on, "The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said, 'We have partially confirmed even the fact that the terrorist actually visited GoseonggukTV,'" adding that "investigative agencies are investigating, and the National Intelligence Service is doing everything it can do," Park said.
On Jan. 2, 2024, when he was the Democratic Party leader, President Lee was stabbed in the left side of the neck by a weapon wielded by Kim during a visit to Gadeokdo, Busan, and underwent surgery. The government designated the incident as a terror attack last month and formed a task force (TF) to investigate it.