South Korean opposition leader stabbed in neck by man with knife

Lee, 59, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was taken to a hospital in Seoul for surgery after receiving emergency treatment in Busan.

Seoul, South Korea: South Korea’s tough-talking liberal opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck by an unknown man with a knife who tried to kill him during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan, police said.

Lee, 59, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was taken to a hospital in Seoul for surgery after receiving emergency treatment in Busan. Police and emergency services previously said he was conscious after the attack and was not in critical condition, but his exact status was unknown.

The attack occurred as Lee walked through a crowd of journalists and others after touring the proposed site of a new airport in Busan. The attacker approached Lee and said he wanted to get his autograph, then stabbed him in the left side of his neck with a knife, Busan senior police officer Sohn Jae-han said in a televised briefing.

Sohn said Democratic Party officials near Lee quickly contained the attacker before police officers detained him. He said 41 police officers had been deployed to the area for crowd control and traffic management.

TV footage showed Lee lying on the ground with his eyes closed as someone pressed a handkerchief to his neck to stop the bleeding. A witness, Jin Jeong-hwa, told YTN television that Lee had bled a lot. Videos circulating on social media showed the suspect, who was wearing a paper crown reading “I am Lee Jae-myung,” being chased and tackled by several people, including apparently plainclothes police officers.

Sohn said the approximately 67-year-old suspect told investigators he bought the 7-inch knife online. He said police were investigating the motive for the attack. Other officers said police are expected to request that the suspect be formally arrested for alleged attempted murder because he told investigators he intended to kill Lee.

Lee’s Democratic Party called the incident “a terrorist attack on Lee and a serious threat to democracy.” She called on the police for a thorough and speedy investigation.

At Pusan ​​National University Hospital in Busan, where Lee was receiving emergency treatment, party spokesman Kwon Chil-seung said Lee’s jugular vein may have been damaged and there was concern about the large amount of bleeding. Hospital officials declined to comment on Lee’s condition.

President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed deep concern for Lee’s health and ordered authorities to investigate the attack. According to Yoon’s office, such violence would not be tolerated.

Lee lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon by 0.7 percentage points, the smallest margin ever recorded in a South Korean presidential election. Recent public surveys show Lee and his main conservative rival Han Dong-hoon, a former justice minister, as the two early favorites to succeed Yoon as president when his lone five-year term ends in 2027.

Since his election defeat, Lee has been a fierce critic of Yoon’s main policies. Last year, Lee held a 24-day hunger strike to protest what he called Yoon’s failure to oppose Japan’s release of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, his handling of the country’s post-pandemic economy and his tough policy towards North Korea. Korea.

Lee faces a series of corruption charges, including that he granted illegal favors to a private investor who reaped huge profits from a dubious housing project in the city of Seongnam, where Lee served as mayor for 10 years until 2018. Lee has denied legal wrongdoing and accused Yoon’s government of pursuing a political vendetta.

Last September, a South Korean court dismissed an arrest warrant for Lee over the allegations, but Lee faces an ongoing investigation by prosecutors. The hearing took place after the opposition-controlled parliament voted to remove Lee’s immunity from arrest, a move that reflected growing divisions within his Democratic Party over his legal troubles.

Lee, who was also governor of Gyeonggi province, surrounding Seoul, is known for his outspoken style. His supporters see him as an anti-elitist hero who can reform establishment politics, root out corruption and solve growing economic inequality. Critics see him as a dangerous populist who relies on sowing division and demonizing his conservative opponents.

Violence against prominent figures has sometimes occurred in South Korea in recent years.

In March 2022, Song Young-gil, then the leader of the Democratic Party, was attacked by a man wielding a hammer during a rally for Lee ahead of the presidential election. Song was treated for stitches but avoided serious injury.

In 2015, the then US ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was slashed in the face and arm by an anti-American activist. The attack required 80 stitches to close the cut on Lippert’s face.

In 2006, Park Geun-hye, then a conservative opposition leader, was stabbed by a man with a box cutter during an election rally. She received 60 stitches to close an 11-centimeter gash on her face. Park was elected president in 2012.