SEOUL – The leader of South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the southern port city of Busan on Tuesday, Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee, who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election, is conscious and has been transported to a local university hospital, a party official and a fire department official told Reuters.
Lee was attacked by an unidentified man while touring the site of a proposed airport, Yonhap said. The attack left an approximately 1cm cut on his neck, YTN television reported.
The attacker appeared to be a man in his 50s or 60s, wearing a paper crown with Lee’s name on it, news photographs showed.
He approached Lee for an autograph and suddenly lunged at him and attacked him, according to news reports. The attacker was quickly subdued and arrested at the scene, Yonhap said.
Video clips from YTN television and another posted on social media platform X showed the attack, with a man charging at Lee with his arm outstretched. Lee grimaced and fell to the ground.
South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during his visit to Busan, South Korea, January 2, 2024. via REUTERS Lee Jae-myung was attacked shortly after speaking. @barunsori
News photographs showed Lee lying on the ground with his eyes closed and other people pressing a handkerchief to the side of his neck.
President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the attack and said it was an unacceptable act, his office said. He expressed deep concern for Lee and instructed that he be given the best care so that he can recover quickly, his office said.
Lee, the former governor of Gyeonggi Province, narrowly lost to conservative Yoon, a former chief prosecutor, in the 2022 presidential election.
Lee is currently on trial for alleged bribery stemming from a development project when he was mayor of Seongnam, near Seoul. Lee has denied any wrongdoing and called the accusations “fiction” and “political conspiracy.”
The man attacked Lee Jae-myung under the pretext of seeking an autograph. @barunsori The leader of the South Korean opposition party, Lee Jae-myung, falls after being attacked by an unidentified man during his visit to Busan, South Korea, on January 2, 2024 YONHAP / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Lee has led the main opposition party since August 2022.
South Korea’s next parliamentary elections are scheduled for April.
Although there are strict restrictions on gun ownership, South Korea has a history of political violence involving other weapons.
Lee’s predecessor, Song Young-gil, was attacked in 2022 at a public event by an assailant who threw a blunt object at his head, causing a laceration.
Then opposition conservative party leader Park Geun-hye, who later served as president, was attacked at an event in 2006 with a knife and suffered a cut to her face that required surgery.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn