A provocative American YouTuber was punched by an unknown assailant following controversy surrounding a video of the live streamer kissing a “comfort woman” statue in Seoul.
Ramsey Khalid Ismael, who goes by Johnny Somali on social media, was livestreaming with friends when a man approached and struck Ismael across the face. The attacker hurled the phone some distance away and bolted.
Ismael and his companions yelled expletives after the man and attempted to give chase, to no avail.
At a later point in the livestream, Ismael is seen with a bandage over his right eye.
Earlier in October, Ismael posted a video of himself kissing the Statue of Peace monument and dancing obscenely in front of it. The statue represents the thousands of young girls coerced into sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation of Korea.
While the attacker’s identity and motive remain unknown, many online have shown their appreciation for his supposedly redressing Ismael’s culturally offensive stunts. Among the livestream comments are “A hero has appeared,” and “Much appreciated.”
Ismael has also uploaded a video in which he is seen draining a bowl of instant noodles onto a table after a convenience store employee prohibited him from drinking alcohol within store premises. He has also played North Korean music and explicit content in public while in South Korea.
He was detained by Japanese authorities in the previous year for similar behavior. He had shouted “Fukushima” to construction workers and blasted music with the words “atomic bomb” publicly.
