South Korea’s primary opposition party leader, Lee Jae-myung, faced a harrowing incident during his visit to Busan on Tuesday.
While inspecting the construction site of the Gadeokdo New Airport and engaging with reporters, an assailant attacked him, causing a 1-centimeter laceration on the left side of his neck.
Despite the severity of the attack, Lee remained conscious throughout the ordeal.
Democratic Party spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung revealed that Lee sustained a possible injury to his jugular vein, prompting concerns about additional bleeding.
The injured leader was swiftly transferred from Busan to Seoul National University Hospital, where he is set to undergo surgery.
Kwon denounced the attack as an act of “terrorism” and a “serious threat to democracy.”
Earlier statements from the Democratic Party’s floor leader Hong Ik-pyo conveyed that Lee is currently “in a conscious state” at the hospital.
Disturbing footage of the attack, broadcast live during a press conference, depicted an unidentified man lunging at Lee and striking him in the neck before being subdued by onlookers.
Expressing deep concern, President Yoon Suk Yeol emphasized the intolerability of such violence under any circumstances.
He promptly instructed the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.
The incident comes at a time when South Korea grapples with political polarization, notably following the imprisonment and subsequent pardon of former President Park Geun-Hye on abuse of power and bribery charges in 2021.
Lee, a liberal former provincial governor, narrowly lost the presidential election to Yoon in March 2022 and assumed leadership of the Democratic Party five months later.
This event adds to a history of political violence in South Korea, including an attack on Lee’s predecessor, Song Young-gil, during a campaign event in 2022.
Former President Park also fell victim to political violence in 2006 when she was attacked with a knife at a party rally, suffering a significant facial injury that required extensive stitches and impacted her ability to speak normally for weeks.
South Korean Opposition Leader Lee Jae-myung Survives Neck Stabbing Attack, South Korean Opposition Leader Lee Jae-myung Survives Neck Stabbing Attack
