President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday that people who pose a threat to national security should not be allowed to act without any restrictions.
Park made the comment in a graduation and commissioning ceremony at Korean National Police University in Yongin, about 50 kilometers south of Seoul.
Park did not elaborate on what she meant by restrictions against those who pose a threat to national security.
The comments are widely seen as a call to beef up police presence to pre-empt any attempt that could undermine the country’s security.
The comments came as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert is recovering at his official residence after being treated in a Seoul hospital for deep cuts on his face and left wrist.
He was attacked by a knife-wielding man during a breakfast function in downtown Seoul earlier this month, an incident South Korea denounced as “an act of terrorism.”
The assailant, identified as Kim Ki-jong, has a track record of attacking a foreign envoy, though he was allowed to attend a breakfast function in Seoul where Lippert was scheduled to give a speech.
In 2010, Kim threw pieces of rock at the then Japanese ambassador to South Korea. The envoy dodged the stones, but one of his aides suffered a minor hand injury. (Yonhap)
