South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung stabbed in neck: Yonhap
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The attacker was arrested at the scene.
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Democratic Party presidential candidate for the 2022 election Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press briefing in Seoul on November 10, 2021. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP)
South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was attacked on Tuesday while talking to reporters in the port city of Busan, Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee was walking in a crowd of journalists after visiting the site of a new airport when a man in front of him lunged and struck him in the neck, footage on South Korean television channels showed.
The 59-year-old was seen collapsing to the ground as people rushed to aid him. One man was seen pressing a handkerchief on Lee's neck.
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Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, lies down after he was attacked by an assailant on the left side of his neck during a visit to the construction site of an airport on Gadeok Island off the southeastern port city of Busan on Jan. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)
He was "walking to his car while talking to reporters when the attacker asked for his autograph", a witness told local broadcaster YTN, adding that Lee was then struck with what "looked like a knife".
Emergency responders were seen carrying Lee into an ambulance. He was later taken to hospital on a helicopter, according to the Yonhap news agency.
The agency said he was bleeding but conscious as he was transported from the scene.
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Moment when South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is attacked, current condition unknown pic.twitter.com/fi5wRG9dsE
"This is an act of terror against Lee and a serious threat to democracy that should never occur under any circumstances," Kwon Chil-seung, an MP from Lee's Democratic Party, told reporters outside the hospital.
"As to Lee's condition, we are waiting for the medical staff's assessment," he added, demanding a "thorough" police investigation into the attack.
Police in Busan said Lee suffered a "one-centimetre laceration on his neck" and that he "remains conscious and bleeding is minor", according to South Korean news outlet Chosun Ilbo.
TV footage showed police officials wrestling the attacker to the ground. He was seen wearing a hat with Lee's name on it.
Yonhap said the assailant has been arrested.
Chief of the Democratic Party, Lee lost to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in a tight presidential race last year.
Yoon expressed "deep concern over the safety of Lee Jae-myung upon hearing of the attack", his spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung said.
"Yoon emphasised our society should never tolerate this kind of act of violence under any circumstances."
Lee is widely expected to run for president again in 2027, and recent polls have indicated that he remains a strong contender, but his bid for the top office has been overshadowed by a string of events.
He avoided arrest in September when a court dismissed a request from the prosecution for him to be taken into custody pending trial on various corruption charges.
Lee still faces trial on charges of bribery in connection with a firm that is suspected of transferring $8 million to the DPRK.
He is also accused of breaching his duties, allegedly resulting in a loss of 20 billion won ($15 million) for a company owned by Seongnam city during his term as its mayor.
Lee has denied all allegations against him.
In August last year, he launched a hunger strike against what he called the Yoon government's "incompetent and violent" policies.
