S. Korea's opposition party chief taken to hospital after being attacked
South Korea's opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung falls after being attacked by an unidentified man during his visit to Busan, South Korea, on January 2, 2024.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party, was injured on Tuesday after being stabbed in the neck by an unidentified man during his visit to the country's southeastern port city of Busan, multiple local media reported.
While taking questions from reporters at about 10:27am local time (1:27am GMT) after touring the construction site of a new airport in Busan, Lee was stabbed on the left side of his neck and collapsed on the floor with blood.
The fire authorities were quoted as saying that Lee suffered a laceration around one centimeter deep.
Citing the medical staff, a Democratic Party spokesman told reporters that Lee's jugular vein was believed to have been damaged with an additional bleeding feared.
Lee was transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Seoul after receiving an emergency treatment in Busan.
Video footage showed that the assailant approached Lee asking for an autograph and stabbed him in the left neck. People around Lee wrestled the attacker to the ground before the police arrested him at the scene. According to Yonhap news agency, the knife possessed by the attacker was at least 20 centimeters long.
About 20 minutes after the attack, Lee was taken to a nearby hospital in a conscious state.
The assailant, estimated to be in his 60s or older, reportedly kept mum about his identify and motive.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the police and relevant authorities to rapidly find out the truth and make every effort to support Lee for his treatment, according to the presidential office.
Yoon stressed that such violent acts should never be tolerated under any circumstances.
