South Korea’s opposition party leader, Lee Jae-myung, is currently recovering in a hospital after a shocking knife attack during a public appearance in the southern port city of Busan. The assailant, a 67-year-old man, approached Lee during a question-and-answer session, asking for an autograph before unexpectedly stabbing him in the neck with an 18cm knife purchased online.
Photographs from the scene depict the assailant wearing a paper crown with Lee’s name on it. Quick intervention by onlookers led to the immediate arrest of the attacker. Lee was rushed to Pusan National University Hospital and later transferred to Seoul National University Hospital, where he underwent surgery. Kwon Chil-seung, a party spokesman, confirmed that Lee is in the intensive care unit, conscious, and in recovery.
The assault occurred during a visit to the construction site of a new airport on Gadeok Island, just offshore from Busan. Lee, born into poverty, worked in a factory before becoming a lawyer and a civil rights attorney. As the head of the left-leaning Democratic Party, he narrowly lost the 2022 presidential race to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol but is expected to run again in 2027, as indicated by recent polls.
President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the attack, emphasizing that violence should never be tolerated under any circumstances. He expressed deep concern for Lee and instructed local authorities to provide the best medical care while directing the police to investigate the incident thoroughly.
Lee is currently on trial for alleged bribery related to a development project during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam near Seoul. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as “fiction” and a “political conspiracy.”
Despite strict restrictions on gun possession and generally low violent crime rates in South Korea, the incident highlights the country’s historical instances of political violence involving weapons. In 2006, then-conservative opposition leader Park Geun-hye, who later became president, was attacked with a knife, sustaining a facial gash requiring surgery. Additionally, the 1980 student uprising against the military takeover saw brutal suppression, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries among protesters in Gwangju.
