South Korea’s opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was attacked by an unidentified assailant while speaking to reporters in the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday, according to local reports.
The 59-year-old Democratic Party leader was visiting the site of a new airport on Gadeok Island, Busan, at around 10.27 a.m. local time when the incident occurred, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Footage shared on social media showed Mr. Lee walking in a crowd of reporters when a man suddenly approached him, seemingly attempting to get his autograph, and then proceeded to strike him with a knife.
Mr. Lee collapsed on the ground but maintained his consciousness. Yonhap News Agency reported that he was stabbed on the left side of his neck, causing him to bleed.
Following the attack, Mr. Lee was airlifted using a fire department helicopter to Pusan National University Hospital to receive immediate medical treatment for his injury.
The assailant, who appeared to be wearing a paper crown with Mr. Lee’s name on it, was arrested at the scene. The police have not revealed his identity, and an investigation is currently underway.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has expressed “deep concern” about Mr. Lee’s safety and ordered the relevant authorities to investigate the attack, according to a statement released by his office.
“The president emphasized that our society should not tolerate such acts of violence under any circumstances,” the statement reads.
Suspect
The assailant appeared to be a man in his 50s or 60s, who wore a paper crown with Lee’s name on it, news photographs showed.
The man approached and asked for an autograph as Lee spoke among a throng of supporters and reporters, then lunged forward and attacked him, video footage showed.
Jin Jeong-hwa, a Lee supporter who was at the scene livestreaming the event, told Reuters there were two dozen police officers present.
The assailant was quickly subdued by men including police officers, the footage showed.
He was refusing to answer police questions about his motives, daily Busan Ilbo reported.
Video clips on YTN television and another posted on the social media platform X showed a man lunging at Lee with his arm stretched out. Lee grimaced and collapsed to the ground.
News photographs showed Lee lying on the ground with his eyes closed and bleeding, and people pressing a handkerchief against his neck.
South Korea has a history of political violence, although it has strict restrictions on gun possession. There is police presence at major events but political leaders are not normally under close security protection.
Mr. Lee’s predecessor, Song Young-gil, was attacked in 2022 at a public event by an assailant who swung a blunt object against his head, causing a laceration.
Then conservative opposition party leader Park Geun-hye, who later served as president, was stabbed at an event in 2006 and suffered a gash on her faced that required surgery.
Her father, Park Chung-hee, who was president for 16 years after taking power in a military coup, was shot and killed by his disgruntled spy chief in 1979 at a drunken private dinner.
In 2015, then-U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was attacked by an assailant while attending a public event, suffering a large gash on his face.
Mr. Lee, who lost to Mr. Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, escaped arrest last year after a court denied prosecutors’ request to take him into custody over corruption charges, citing the absence of a clear risk that he might tamper with evidence.
But the criminal charges against him still stand. The opposition leader has denied any wrongdoing and claimed the charges against him are part of a “political conspiracy” to undermine him.
Mr. Lee has been accused of breaching his duty while serving as Seongnam City’s mayor between 2014 and 2015, allegedly extending unlawful treatment to a private developer in a real estate project that resulted in approximately 20 billion won ($15 million) in losses.
The politician is also accused of soliciting a company to illegally transfer $8 million to North Korea while he was the governor of Gyeonggi Province between 2019 and 2020 to organize a visit to the North.
South Korea is slated to hold its National Assembly election in April 2024.
Reuters contributed to this report
