Party Leader of the S. Korean Opposition “Could Have Been Killed” in Attack

South Korea’s Seoul: As police obtained a warrant to inspect his attacker’s residence, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of South Korea nearly avoided death after being stabbed in the neck, a party legislator said on Wednesday.

In southern Busan city on Tuesday, a guy posing as a fan broke through the throng and pounced at Lee, slashing him on the left side of his neck with a knife while he was surrounded by media.

After being injured in his jugular vein, Lee was initially transported to a hospital in Busan and then jetted to Seoul, the nation’s capital, where he had a two-hour operation. He’s in the critical care unit right now getting better.

Democratic Party MP Jung Chung-rae said during a party meeting on Wednesday, “Busan medical staff stated that if the attacker’s knife had struck Lee’s carotid artery he could have been killed instantly at the scene.”

“Lee is currently recovering in intensive care but the situation is so serious that visiting is difficult,” he said.

Democratic Party member and physician Kang Cheong-hee subsequently claimed that Lee had sustained “a severe injury”.

The Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday that police intended to request an arrest warrant for the 66-year-old suspect, who was being held at the site and was only known by his last name Kim.

Police may keep holding the suspect if they had the warrant.

According to Yonhap, a district judge granted a search warrant for the suspect’s home and workplace as part of the inquiry. Yonhap also said that the police would concentrate on determining the precise reason for the assault.

According to Yonhap, the attacker informed the police that he intended to kill Lee. South Korean officials want to prosecute the attacker with attempted murder.

Lawmaker Jung described the attacker’s admission that he had intended to murder as “utterly shocking.”

The suspect was spotted wearing a pro-Lee slogan, and police were seen wrestling him to the ground in video that was shown on South Korean media channels.

According to a witness who spoke with local station YTN, the 59-year-old congressman was “walking to his car while talking to reporters when the attacker asked for his autograph.”

Yonhap reports that suspect Kim was employed in South Chungcheong Province, around 115 kilometers south of Seoul, as a real estate agent.

Yonhap said Kim had been having financial problems and had not been able to pay the office rent for seven months, citing delivery alerts for registered mail from banks at his office among other things.

False information
Yoon’s conservative party is preparing for an important election on April 10 in South Korea, hoping to win back a legislative majority for the first time since 2016.

A win in the general election is seen by the opposition Democratic Party as a crucial need for being ready for the 2027 presidential contest.

Before the general election in April, there have been demands for Lee to resign as the leader of his own party.

On the internet, false information on the assault on Lee was making the rounds. Some said the whole thing was orchestrated, which Congressman Jung called “cruel and corrupt”

“Headlines such as ‘Fake blood with a fake knife’ and ‘YouTubers bring up conspiracy theories’ make me question how much more cruel and corrupt people can be,” he said.

In previous years, a number of prominent South Korean leaders have faced public attacks.

In 2022, Song Young-gil, the Democratic Party’s leader prior to Lee, was struck in the head by an old man using a blunt instrument.

Park Geun-hye, the head of the conservative party and eventual president, was stabbed with a knife at a rally in 2006. Her face was scarred by the assault.

In 2022, Lee was defeated by the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in the most competitive presidential election in South Korean history.

Playing up his rags-to-riches story, Lee—a former child factory worker who had an industrial mishap as a young school dropout—became a political celebrity.

It is quite probable that he would seek the presidency once again in 2027, and current polls show that he is still a formidable opponent.

However, a number of controversies have clouded his candidacy for president, and he is currently facing bribery allegations related to a company that may have sent $8 million to North Korea without authorization.

Five people who were involved in Lee’s previous controversies were discovered dead, several of them seemed to be suicides.