South Korean opposition leader stabbed in neck by 'terrorist', in 'serious threat to democracy'
2 January 2024, 05:51 | Updated: 2 January 2024, 06:42
The leader of the political opposition in South Korea has been stabbed in the neck, in an attack his party has called an act of terrorism.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Lee Jae-myung was stabbed by the unidentified man as he toured an airport in Busan, the country's second-largest city.
Mr Lee, who leads the Democratic Party, was taken to a local hospital. Officials said he was conscious and not in a critical condition, but his exact health status was unknown.
The suspect approached Mr Lee posing as an autograph hunter, as the politician walked through a crowd of journalists and others after finishing a tour of a new airport.
The attacker stabbed Mr Lee in the neck with a knife, according to Busan police.
Read more: Parasite star Lee Sun-kyun found dead in car aged 48 amid police drugs investigation
Warning: some readers may find the below image disturbing
Mr Lee slumped to the ground, where someone pressed a handkerchief to his neck to stop the bleeding. A witness, Jin Jeong-hwa, told YTN television that Mr Lee bled a lot.
Videos circulated on social media showed the suspect, wearing a paper crown reading "I'm Lee Jae-myung" being chased and tackled by several people.
Police said officers arrested the man on the spot. During questioning, he refused to identify himself or say why he attacked Mr Lee, according to Yonhap news agency.
Mr Lee's Democratic Party called the incident "a terrorist attack on Lee and a serious threat to democracy". It called on police to make a through, swift investigation of the incident.
Party spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung told reporters at Pusan National University Hospital that Mr Lee's jugular vein was believed to have been damaged and there was concern over the large amount of bleeding.
He said Mr Lee was being airlifted to a hospital in Seoul for surgery.
Hospital officials would not comment on Mr Lee's condition.
President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed deep concern about Mr Lee's health and ordered authorities to investigate the attack, saying such violence would not be tolerated, according to Mr Yoon's office.
Mr Lee lost the 2022 presidential election to Mr Yoon by a narrow margin.
Mr Lee, a liberal former provincial governor, is known for his outspoken style. His supporters see him as an anti-elitist hero who could reform establishment politics, eradicate corruption and solve growing economic inequality.
Critics view him as a dangerous populist who relies on stoking divisions and demonising his conservative opponents.
