Just over a week after he was the target of an assassination attempt, South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was released from a hospital in Seoul.
The leader of the Democratic Party told reporters he hoped his attack would usher in a new era of mutual political “respect and coexistence” shortly after walking out of Seoul National University Hospital.
He said the incident could serve “as a milestone to end the politics of hatred and confrontation” that has marred South Korean society in recent years.
Lee had been meeting with reporters at the construction site of a new airport in the southeastern port city of Busan on January 2 when the suspected attacker, wearing a paper crown with Lee’s name printed on it, approached him and asked for an autograph. Videos posted online showed Lee smiling shortly before the man plunged a large knife into the left side of Lee’s neck.
Lee was quickly treated at the scene before he was rushed to Pusan National University Hospital. He was later airlifted to Seoul National University Hospital for a two-hour surgical procedure to repair the jugular vein in his neck.
The suspected attacker has been identified as a 67-year-old man surnamed Kim. Police say Kim tried to kill Lee to stop him from being elected president in 2027, and to keep his party from winning a majority of seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The liberal lawmaker narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, and is considered to be a leading candidate to succeed the president when Yoon’s single term expires.
Police also say the suspect was frustrated over how long it was taking prosecutors to bring Lee to trial on corruption-related charges, including those related to a property development scandal. Lee has denied the charges, which he says are politically motivated.
The suspect has been charged with attempted murder.
Political violence in South Korea has been rare in recent decades, although 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.
Her father, authoritarian President Park Chung-hee, was assassinated in 1979 by his own chief of the country’s intelligence agency.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
