South Korea’s opposition chief Lee Jae-myung has been stabbed within the neck throughout a go to to Busan, police have mentioned.
He was attacked as he toured a building web site at a brand new airport, mentioned the town’s emergency workplace.
It mentioned Lee – who heads the primary opposition Democratic Party – was acutely aware and never critically injured however his actual situation is unknown.
He was taken to a neighborhood college hospital for remedy.
Police mentioned an unidentified man approached the politician for an autograph earlier than lunging in with a 18cm lengthy knife he had purchased on-line.
The 67-year-old man was rapidly restrained and arrested. He later refused to establish himself or say why he attacked Lee, in keeping with the Yonhap information company.
YTN tv confirmed Lee grimacing and collapsing to the bottom, with different photographs displaying individuals urgent a handkerchief to the aspect of his neck.
It is believed Lee’s jugular vein was broken and there was concern over the big quantity of bleeding, occasion spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung advised reporters.
He had reportedly been left with a gash of about 1cm.
The Democratic Party known as the incident “a terrorist attack on Lee and a serious threat to democracy” and known as on police to make an intensive and swift investigation.
Lee misplaced the 2022 presidential election to Yoon Suk-yeol by a slender margin.
He is at present on trial for alleged bribery – which he denies – regarding a improvement undertaking when he was mayor of Seongnam close to Seoul.
The liberal can be recognized for his outspoken fashion, with supporters seeing him as an anti-elitist crusader, however critics view him as a populist who stokes divisions and demonises conservative rivals.
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President Yoon condemned the assault and expressed deep concern for Lee’s situation, mentioned a spokesperson.
South Korea has strict gun legal guidelines however there’s a historical past of political violence utilizing different weapons.
Lee’s predecessor, Song Young-gil, suffered a head wound when he was attacked with a blunt object at a public occasion in 2022.
Source: information.sky.com”