South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who was stabbed in the neck during a trip to Busan, southeast, on Tuesday, was admitted to intensive care after surgery, his party said.
Watch shocking footage of the incident in the main video.
• Also read: South Korean opposition leader stabbed in the neck
“Damage to the internal jugular vein has been confirmed,” Kwon Chil-seung of the Democratic Party said after the operation in Seoul. Mr Lee “is currently in the intensive care unit recovering,” he added.
After touring the site of a new airport, Mr. Lee was walking through the port city surrounded by a crowd of journalists and supporters when a man stabbed him in the neck, local television footage showed.
The politician “was walking toward his car while speaking to journalists when the attacker asked him for an autograph before appearing to attack him with a knife to the neck,” a witness told local broadcaster YTN.
AFP
Lee Jae-myung, 59, then collapsed to the ground while several people rushed to his aid and covered his wound.
Mr. Lee was initially taken to Busan National University Hospital while he was conscious, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.
He was then flown to the National University Hospital in the capital Seoul for surgery, according to Kwon Chil-seung, a lawmaker from his Democratic Party.
Conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, who defeated Lee Jae-myung in the 2022 presidential election, expressed his “deep concern for the safety” of his opponent, according to South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Soo-kyung.
He added that “our society should never tolerate this type of violent act, regardless of the circumstances.”
AFP
“This is an act of terrorism against Mr. Lee and a serious threat to democracy that should not happen under any circumstances,” lawmaker Kwon Chil-seung said outside Busan Hospital, calling for a “thorough” investigation to be launched.
According to images on South Korean television, police officers struggled with the attacker and pinned him to the ground. The latter wore a headdress bearing a slogan in favor of Mr Lee.
The attacker was then arrested and did not comment on the motives for his actions, Yonhap said, citing police sources.
Mr Lee is expected to run again for the presidential election in 2027. A former worker and governor of Gyeonggi Province, the country's most populous province that surrounds Seoul, he proposed original measures during his 2022 election campaign, including a universal minimum income and free school uniforms.
But his candidacy was marred by a series of scandals. He was particularly criticized for a real estate transaction that was considered dubious. He was also rumored to have ties to the mafia and his wife was accused of illegal use of public funds.
In September 2023, Lee Jae-myung avoided arrest after a court rejected a prosecutor's request for pretrial detention while he awaited trial on various corruption charges.
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He is suspected of corruption in connection with a company that allegedly illegally transferred $8 million to North Korea.
Mr. Lee is also accused of losing 20 billion won ($15 million) to a company in the city of Seongnam (northwest), where he was mayor.
He began his working life at the age of 11 in a glove factory. Two years later he suffered an occupational accident. His arm became stuck in a press, resulting in lifelong disability.
After studying law, Mr Lee became a human rights lawyer and entered politics in 2010. He was hospitalized in September after beginning a 19-day hunger strike to denounce the current Conservative government's “incompetent and violent policies.”