South Korean opposition leader stabbed by attacker
Main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was attacked by an assailant and stabbed in the neck by a knife during his tour to Busan on Tuesday morning, The Korea Herald reports.
South Korean opposition leader stabbed by attacker
Geurasia

South Korean opposition leader stabbed by attacker

Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je
Eurasia 02/01/2024 09:21

Main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was attacked by an assailant and stabbed in the neck by a knife during his tour to Busan on Tuesday morning, The Korea Herald reports.

Lee was stabbed around 10:27 a.m. local time after talking to reporters during a visit to the site of a new airport off the coast of Busan. The assailant was detained by police at the scene, the newspaper added.

Lee sustained a cut 1 centimetre-wide and remained conscious when the paramedics arrived at the scene, emergency authorities said, adding that his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

After receiving emergency treatment in Busan, he was airlifted to Seoul National University Hospital around 1 p.m. for surgery. Lee sustained an injury to his jugular vein, which put him at risk of additional bleeding and possible hemorrhage, according to the Democratic Party of Korea.

The assailant who appeared to be in his 60s or 70s, though his identity remained unknown as of noon, had walked through a crowd of reporters and asked Lee for an autograph. He then pulled out a 20-centimeter-long knife to stab the current opposition leader through the neck, The Korea Herald explains.

Photo: AFP/Yonhap
President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed deep concern on the matter saying that “such acts of violence should not be condoned in our society.” He ordered authorities to swiftly investigate the case and offer proper medical attention for Lee.

The next legislative elections are scheduled to be held on April 10 in South Korea. Lee Jae-myung is the leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). According to The Korea Times, "the conservative People Power Party (PPP) is determined to reshape the composition of the current Assembly, dominated by its liberal adversary, the main opposition DPK. The DPK, meanwhile, is determined to maintain its dominance to act as a counterbalance to the governing party and the Yoon Suk Yeol administration". The PPP controls South Korean presidency and is the second largest party in the National Assembly. 

The Korea Herald recalls that former president Park Geun-hye was injured in a knife attack in 2006 when she was the leader of the conservative Grand National Party, a predecessor of the current People Power Party. It left an 11-centimetre cut from her ear to her lower chin. She was campaigning for her party’s Seoul city mayoral candidate, Oh Se-hoon, at the time. In 2015, the then-US ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was slashed in the face with a razor by a 55-year-old political extremist named Kim Ki-jong during a function in Seoul. Lippert needed 80 stitches in his face and hand. Kim was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
#South Korea
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