Metropolis Desk-
During a visit to the southern port city of Busan on Tuesday, opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung of South Korea was stabbed in the neck, according to a report by the Yonhap news agency.
According to party and fire department officials who spoke with Reuters, Lee, who came up just short in the 2022 presidential contest, is conscious and has been taken to a nearby university hospital.
Yonhap reported that while Lee was visiting the location of a proposed airport, an unidentified man attacked him. According to YTN television, the attack has left him with a 1 cm gash on his neck.
News photos revealed the attacker to be a man in his 50s or 60s, wearing a paper crown with Lee’s name on it.
He went up to ask Lee for an autograph, but according to news reports, he suddenly lunged forward and attacked Lee. Yonhap said that the attacker was swiftly neutralized and taken into custody on the spot.
A man was seen lunging at Lee with his arm outstretched in two different video clips from the attack that were shown on YTN television and the social media platform X. With a grimace, Lee fell to the floor.
In news images, Lee was seen lying on the ground with his eyes closed and people putting a handkerchief against his neck.
According to his office, President Yoon Suk Yeol denounced the attack and called it an intolerable act. According to his office, he expressed profound concern for Lee and directed that the best care be provided so that he could recover quickly.
In the 2022 presidential contest, conservative Yoon, a former chief prosecutor, narrowly defeated former Gyeonggi province governor Lee.
Currently, Lee is on trial for alleged bribery related to a development project that he oversaw as mayor of Seongnam, a city close to Seoul. Lee has referred to the accusations as “fiction” and a “political conspiracy,” and he has denied any wrongdoing.
Since August 2022, Lee has served as the head of the main opposition party.
The upcoming parliamentary elections in South Korea are scheduled for April.
South Korea has a history of political violence involving other weapons, despite the country’s severe gun control laws.
In 2022, Song Young-gil, Lee’s predecessor, was attacked in a public setting by an attacker who struck his head with a blunt object, lacerating his forehead.
Then, in 2006, Park Geun-hye, the leader of the conservative opposition party and future president, was attacked with a knife at a function, resulting in a gash on her face that needed surgery.
Source- AFP
