A South Korean diplomat was punched on a New York City street Wednesday night by a random attacker who fled the scene, officials said.
The 53-year-old diplomat was walking with a friend at 8:10pm, according to the New York City Police Department.
The attacker didn’t say anything while punching the Korean official, who suffered a broken nose, police said. The victim even showed his South Korean diplomatic ID to the attacker, who fled later.
The assault happened on the edge of Manhattan’s Koreatown and about a mile southwest of United Nations headquarters.
There was no arrest as of Thursday morning, and a motive wasn’t immediately clear, a police spokesman said.
Anti-Asian hate crimes have been soaring, in the months since the coronavirus pandemic struck, according to a study published in January by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.