Request to Wear Mask on Bus Leads to Verbal Abuse and Assault...Suspect Arrested Red-Handed

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Cases of violence occurring after requests to wear masks on buses have been repeatedly caught by the police.

On the 21st, according to the police, the Seongdong Police Station in Seoul arrested Mr. A on charges of assault.

Mr. A is suspected of verbally abusing and assaulting a passenger who requested him to wear a mask on a village bus around 8 p.m. the previous day. It is reported that when the victim passenger started recording a video, Mr. A threatened by trying to snatch and throw the phone, pushed the victim, and grabbed their collar.

Then, around 9 p.m. the previous day in Gangbuk-gu, Mr. B, who was talking on the phone without wearing a mask on a city bus, was arrested on the spot by the police on charges of assault after hitting the cheek of a passenger who asked him to wear a mask. Mr. B is also known to have grabbed and shaken the hair of another passenger who tried to intervene.