The leader of the South Korean opposition, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck today while speaking to journalists in the southeastern port city of Busan. The assailant is a man who was arrested on the spot by the police.
Lee Jae-myung underwent surgery and is currently in intensive care, according to his party. Kwon Chil-seung of the Democratic Party in Seoul stated, “Damage to the internal jugular vein has been confirmed,” after Lee underwent surgery. Lee is “currently hospitalized in the intensive care unit and is recovering,” he added.
Transported to the hospital about 20 minutes after the attack, Lee Jae-myung underwent surgery and is now in intensive care, as reported by his party. “Damage to the internal jugular vein has been confirmed,” said Kwon Chil-seung of the Democratic Party in Seoul after Lee underwent surgery. Lee “is currently hospitalized in the intensive care unit and is recovering,” he said.
Lee was walking through a crowd of reporters after visiting the site of a new airport when the assailant made his way and attacked him, striking him in the neck, as shown in footage broadcast on South Korean television channels. The South Korean opposition leader then collapsed to the ground as people rushed to help him, and a man began pressing a cloth to his neck. The assailant was restrained by police officers and some passersby. Head of the Democratic Party of Korea (Deominju), Lee lost to the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol in a tough presidential race in 2022.
A former child laborer who had a workplace accident as a teenager when he dropped out of school, Lee avoided arrest in September when a court rejected the prosecution’s request to detain him pending trial on various corruption charges. He is still on trial in connection with a case involving a company suspected of illicitly transferring 8 million dollars to North Korea.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed “deep concern for the safety of Lee Jae-myung after learning of the attack” suffered by the opposition leader, who was stabbed in the neck in the southeastern port city of Busan. This was reported by presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung. “Yoon emphasized that our society should never tolerate this kind of act of violence, regardless of the circumstances,” Kim added.
