The leader of the South Korean Democratic Party (DP), Lee Jae-myung, 59, was stabbed in the neck this Tuesday during a public event in Busan and taken to the capital to undergo emergency surgery due to serious damage to the jugular. Party sources indicated to the South Korean media that there is no fear for his life although there is a possibility that he could suffer new hemorrhages.
The perpetrator of the attack approached Lee, apparently pretending to be one of his followers and asking for an autograph, as captured by images broadcast on television and as explained by eyewitnesses. The man attacked the liberal politician by surprise by stabbing him with an object that has not yet been identified and that would have a length of between 20 and 30 centimeters, according to EFE.
The incident took place at 10:27 local time (1:27 GMT) during an event with journalists on the land that will house the new Busan airport (about 350 kilometers southeast of Seoul) on the island of Gadeok when the attacker, who was wearing a crown which read "I am Lee Jae-myung", pounced on the leader of the main South Korean opposition bloc and stabbed him in the left side of the neck.
Lee was taken consciously to the hospital by an ambulance about 20 minutes later with significant bleeding, while the perpetrator of the attack, a man between 60 and 70 years old, was immediately arrested, according to the Yonhap agency. Police have said the man has not yet revealed why he stabbed Lee.
Lee collapsed instantly and members of his party were responsible for covering the wound while the ambulance arrived. After receiving emergency care at the Pusan National University Hospital, he was transferred by helicopter to the capital to undergo surgery at the Seoul National University Hospital, according to PD sources cited by Yonhap who also indicated that the politician has lost a lot of blood due to the attack.
Both South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and the leader of the ruling conservative People's Power Party (PPP), Han Dong-hoon, have strongly condemned the attack and called for a full investigation into what happened.
Lee's health status poses a new mystery for the PD ahead of the legislative elections next April. In recent weeks, doubts have been raised about whether Lee would make it to the elections as opposition leader in the face of internal pressure demanding that he resign due to ongoing investigations into his alleged involvement in corruption schemes when he was mayor of Seongnam. city on the outskirts of Seoul, and governor of Gyeonggi, the most populated province in the country.
