Knife attack on opposition leader sounds alarm in polarized South Korea

The man accused of stabbing Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s main opposition party, in the neck has been stalking him in recent weeks, including attending a political event attended by Mr Lee on Dec. 13, apparently captured on video there wearing a blue paper crown, police say.

At a rally on Tuesday, a man wearing a similar paper crown and carrying a message supporting Mr Lee and company also carried something else: a knife with a five-inch blade and a plastic wrapped handle with duct tape.

The attack, the worst against a South Korean politician in nearly two decades, seriously injured Mr. Lee, who was recovering in an intensive care unit at Seoul National University after surgery on Wednesday, officials said. And it deeply shocked a country that values ​​hard-won years of relative peace after an era of political and military violence before establishing democracy in the 1990s.

Police said the suspect, a 66-year-old real estate agent named Kim Jin-seong, admitted he planned to kill Mr. Lee. Armed with a court order, police on Wednesday seized Mr. Kim’s cellphone and raided his home and office in Asan, south of Seoul, as they tried to determine what might have motivated the attack.

With details still scarce, public debate and newsrooms expressed growing concern about South Korea’s increasing political polarization and the hatred and extremism it seemed to inspire, as well as the challenges it posed to the country’s young democracy. country.

“The opposition leader falls under the knife of ‘politics of hate’,” read a headline from Chosun Ilbo, the country’s main conservative daily.

Officials said little was known about Mr. Kim’s personal life or political and other background, other than that he was a former government official who had run a real estate agency in Asan since 2012. Police found no previous records of crime, drug use or psychiatric problems. problems, and said he was sober at the time of the attack on Mr. Lee. His neighbors said they had little interaction with him.

A neighbor remembered him as a friendly and hardworking “gentleman” who kept his office open every day, even on weekends, but who did not discuss politics with him and lived alone in an apartment.

“He is not someone who would do something like that,” said Park Min-joon, who runs a construction management company. “I could not believe it.”

The deep and bitter rivalry between Mr Lee and President Yoon Suk Yeol has been at the center of South Korea’s political polarization since 2022, when Mr Lee lost to Mr Yoon by the narrowest margin of any free presidential election in South Korea. Rather than withdraw from politics, as some presidential candidates have done after defeats, Lee ran for – and won – a seat in parliament, as well as the chairmanship of the Opposition Democratic Party.

Under Mr. Yoon, prosecutors have launched a series of investigations against Mr. Lee and sought to arrest him on various corruption and other criminal charges. Mr. Yoon has also refused to allow Mr. Lee one-on-one meetings that South Korean presidents had often offered to opposition leaders to seek political compromises. Instead, he has repeatedly characterized his political opponents as “anti-state forces” or “corrupt cartels.”

For his part, Mr. Lee accused Mr. Yoon of using state law enforcement forces to intimidate his enemies. His party has refused to support many of Yoon’s Cabinet and Supreme Court appointees. Political commentators likened the relationship between Mr Yoon and Mr Lee to “gladiator politics”.

“The two have been on a collision course for two years,” said Park Sung-min, head of MIN Consulting, a political consultancy firm. “President Yoon is accused of not recognizing Lee Jae-myung as an opposition leader, but rather as a suspect in a crime. I don’t think his attitude is likely to change after the knife attack on Lee.”

The last major attack on a domestic political leader came in 2006, when Park Geun-hye, then an opposition leader, was slashed in the face with a box cutter. But the attack was largely seen as an isolated outburst of rage by an ex-convict who complained of mistreatment by the law enforcement system. (Ms. Park went on to win the 2012 presidential election.)

But in recent years, politicians have become increasingly exposed to hatred in the public sphere as political polarization deepens. In a survey sponsored by the Hankyoreh newspaper in December, more than 50 percent of respondents said they felt the political divide was widening. In another survey in December, commissioned by the Chosun Ilbo, four in 10 respondents said they felt uncomfortable sharing meals or drinks with people who did not share their political views.

The South Koreans had an early idea of ​​the current problem. During the 2022 presidential election, Song Young-gil, an opposition leader, was attacked by a baton-wielding man in his 70s, who then committed suicide in prison.

Jin Jeong-hwa, a YouTuber whose channel openly supports Lee and who live-streamed the knife attack on Tuesday, said he felt the rising political tension and hatred every day. Once when he visited a conservative city in central South Korea, people who recognized him tried to chase him away, threatening him with knives and sickles.

“You see a lot of anger, slander, character assassination and demonization,” Mr. Jin said. “I’m not sure if a rational debate on issues and ideologies is possible anymore.”

On Wednesday, Mr Yoon wished Mr Lee a speedy recovery, calling attacks on politicians “an enemy of free democracy.” His government ordered greater public security for politicians.

But analysts saw little chance of a decline in political polarization once the rival parties geared up for parliamentary elections in April. Social media, especially YouTube, has become so influential as a channel for spreading news and shaping public opinion that politicians said they were beholden to populist demands from activist YouTubers widely accused of stoking fear and hatred .

Both Mr. Yoon and Mr. Lee have fervent online followers who often resort to leveling insults, conspiracy theories and even thinly veiled death threats against their enemies.

“Hate has become an everyday norm” in South Korean politics, said Mr. Park, head of MIN Consulting. “Politicians must face the reality that similar things could happen again,” he said, referring to the knife attack on Mr Lee.