South Korean opposition leader and former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck by a man pretending to be a supporter, during a visit to the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday.
Lee was meeting with reporters at the construction site of a new airport when a man approached, asking for an autograph, according to media reports. Videos posted online showed Lee smiling shortly before the man plunged a large knife into the left side of his neck.
His condition is unknown. Pictures showed him lying on the ground, with his eyes closed and mouth open, while those around him applied pressure to the wound. South Korean media report that Lee was conscious while being transported to the hospital.
A male suspect was arrested at the scene, according to reports. There is no word on a motive.
Lee is the head of South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party. A liberal, Lee narrowly lost a 2022 presidential vote to conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Lee, 59, is a polarizing figure in South Korean politics. In September, he ended a 24-day hunger strike to protest what he saw as the failed policies of his rival, Yoon.
Last year, South Korean prosecutors indicted Lee on corruption-related charges, including those related to a property development scandal. He avoided jail after a court rejected a warrant for his arrest.
Lee is known for his populist policies. As a former mayor of Gyeonggi, South Korea’s most populous province that surrounds Seoul, Lee advocated a form of universal basic income, in which citizens were to receive regular payments of money from the government.
In a statement, Yoon’s office expressed “deep concern” about Lee’s safety and called for a quick investigation into the incident. He also said South Korean society should not tolerate such violent acts.
Political violence in South Korea has been rare in recent decades, though attacks have occasionally occurred.
In 2022, Song Young-gil, then Democratic Party leader, was attacked by an elderly man with a hammer while campaigning just two days before the election.
In 2006, former conservative party leader Park Geun-hye, who would later become president, was attacked by a man with a box cutter at a rally in Seoul.
