SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s tough-speaking liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck by an unidentified knife-wielding man who attempted to kill him during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan, police said.
Lee, 59, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was airlifted to a Seoul hospital for surgery after receiving emergency treatment in Busan. Police and emergency officials earlier said he was conscious after the attack and wasn’t in critical condition, but his exact status was unknown.
Lee Jae Myung is a controversial figure in Korean politics. He lost the last presidential election to Yoon, but remained the leader of Korea’s center-left party despite ongoing corruption investigations. He was stabbed in Busan, which tends to vote for the conservative party. I don’t think this is something North Korea would do. But we’ll have to see what the investigation reveals.
I’d also add that stabbings are sadly not new to S. Korean politics. The former president Park Geun Hye was slashed across the face while campaigning.