Police Say Slasher Likely Acted Alone

Prosecutors are likely to conclude that no one conspired with Ji Chung-ho, 50, in the assault against the opposition leader Park Geun-hye. But, the prosecution is yet to find his motives.

"After studying the video on the bus Ji took to the GNP`s election campaign, we concluded that he was alone," said investigator Lee Seung-gu.

Investigators said that Ji eats a lot of ice cream because of diabetes, regarding the fact that Ji bought six ice cream servings from a convenience store near the campaign rally. They added that he occasionally eats over 30 ice cream servings a day.

The Grand National Party (GNP) argued that someone colluded with Ji. It asserted that the fact the Ji went to stores several times to buy ice cream is evidence that there was someone else involved in the crime.

However, investigators have been unsuccessful in finding out who shouted "kill her," which was recorded in the video of the attack because of poor quality of the recording.

“GNP supporters shouted words to Ji. This seems to have been misunderstood by many," said a policeman who was one of first people to investigate Ji.

The motives of the assailant are not known. At first, Ji said he committed the crime because he hated the GNP, but then changed his stance and said that he did it for democracy.

It is even more difficult to determine his motives because he confessed that he targeted Oh Se-hun, the Seoul mayoral candidate of the GNP, but assaulted Park Geun-hye.

"Ji is avoiding any direct confessions of his motives," said an investigator.

Ji was found to have slashed a woman`s face with a razor blade 22 years ago. He slashed a woman whom he was acquainted with on May 16, 1984 in southern Seoul, twice on the face.

The investigation team revealed that Ji paid credit card bills with two checks amounting to two million won, but this was found to be not true. "It is literally impossible to close the case before the upcoming elections, because there are many things to do, including tracking his phone records, bank accounts, and summoning related people," said a high-level investigator.

The GNP criticized the comment, saying, "The investigators are leading the case to the conclusion that Ji committed the crime by himself."

"I want to know the reason investigators are hurrying to close the case when there is no concrete evidence that Ji acted alone. The investigators should thoroughly find out every detail of the assault should there be even a 0.01 percent possibility of a conspiracy," said Rep. Gwon Yong-se of the GNP.