South Korea: South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung stabbed

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday while speaking to reporters in Busan, southeastern South Korea. The politician was hospitalized and his assailant arrested.

South Korea: South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was surrounded by journalists when he was wounded by an assailant on January 2, 2024 in the southern city of Busan. Lee Jae-myung was shot in the throat and hospitalized, and his attacker was arrested. YouTube @barunsori via REUTERS - YouTube @barunsori

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Lee Jae-myung, 59, was flown to Busan National University Hospital in the south of the city by ambulance and then by helicopter, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. He was still conscious at the time, according to the same source, after being stabbed by a man in his <>s who was neutralized by police officers. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition in South Korea, suffers from a neck injury.

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This is an act of terror against Mr. Lee and a grave threat to democracy that should never happen under any circumstances," Democratic Party MK Kwon Chil-seung told reporters outside the hospital. "As for Mr. Lee's state of health, we are waiting for the doctors' assessment," he added, demanding a "thorough" investigation.

The leader of the Democratic Party, Mr. Lee lost to the conservative and current South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, in the 2022 presidential election.

Yoon on Tuesday expressed "deep concern for Lee Jae-myung's safety after learning of the attack," according to South Korean presidential spokeswoman Kim so-kyung. He also "stressed that our society should never tolerate this type of violence, regardless of the circumstances," she added.

A former worker and governor of Gyeonggi Province, the country's most populous province that surrounds Seoul, Lee had proposed original measures, including a universal minimum income and free school uniforms during the last presidential campaign.

But his candidacy had been marred by a series of scandals. Mr. Lee had been criticized for a real estate transaction that was deemed questionable. He was also rumored to have links with the mafia and his wife was accused of illegal use of public funds. He was prosecuted for a hunger strike last September and had to be hospitalized.

Read alsoSouth Korea: Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in a politico-judicial storm

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