Woman kicked in head in sickening Covid-19 racial attack

A SOUTH Korean national has spoken out after suffering a violent, racist attack on the streets of Bundaberg.

A woman has spoken out after a sickening attack in Bundaberg.

A SOUTH Korean national has spoken out after suffering a violent,  racist attack on the streets of Bundaberg.

Sinae Jeong, 27, has stayed and worked in Australia for almost a year on a working holiday visa.

But on Friday night Ms Jeong and her friend were surrounded by a group of youths on Bourbong St  who accused her of bringing coronavirus to Australia.

Ms Jeong said she was terrified.

"We realised they were being abusive about coronavirus," she said.

Suddenly four to five girls were coming towards us and their eyes looked affected by drugs or alcohol.

"They started asking the question 'how long have you been in Bundaberg? Did you self-isolate for 14 days?'"

It was then a girl labelled the pair of friends as "coronavirus disease".

Ms Jeong tried to ignore the attack, but when the group of girls kept abusing them she asked to be left alone.

It was then that one of the girls suddenly grabbed her hair and pushed her to the ground.

Ms Jeong described her state as "very frightened" and as soon as she got back on her feet she was immediately pushed back down again.

The teenagers became even more enraged when Ms Jeong said she would call the police.

"They got very angry and started swearing a lot," she said.

When Ms Jeong tried to defend herself, she was met with fists.

As Ms Jeong tried to call 000, another girl joined in pulling her back to the ground by her hair, kicking her repeatedly in the face, neck and back of her head.

Ms Jeong covered her face with her hands, but it didn't stop the pain.

"She said 'go back to your country' and she kicked me more than 10 times," she said.

Ms Jeong said a boy on a bicycle was also threatening her and her friend.

When passers-by intervened, Ms Jeong said the group was still surrounding them and her rescuers were also abused.

She said one of the girls yelled: "why do you care about this f---ing c---".

Police arrived and Ms Jeong was treated by paramedics.

A doctor advised her she would need to take two days off work.

Ms Jeong suffered severe pain and discomfort after the assault, but the emotional scars remain and she now finds it hard to go outdoors without fear of being attacked.

A police spokeswoman said no charges had been made as yet, but investigations were continuing. 

Originally published as Woman kicked in head in sickening Covid-19 racial attack