Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, lies down after he was attacked by an assailant on the left side of his neck during a visit to the construction site of an airport on Gadeok Island off the southeastern port city of Busan on Jan. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)
SEOUL/BUSAN, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the southeastern port city of Busan earlier in the day, had his emergent surgery completed, the Democratic Party (DP) said Tuesday.
“It took longer than expected and we are closely following his progress,” the party said at Seoul National University Hospital where the surgery was performed.
“We strongly condemn the act of political terror against Lee,” it said, calling for authorities to thoroughly investigate the case to find the truth behind the attack.
The DP chairman was stabbed on the left side of his neck by a paper crown-wearing man in his 60s posing as an autograph-seeker at 10:27 a.m. after touring the construction site of a new airport on Busan’s Gadeok Island.
Lee was promptly transported to Pusan National University Hospital while conscious and underwent emergency treatment for a laceration of approximately 1 centimeter in his neck, according to fire authorities.
Lee was then airlifted by helicopter to Seoul National University Hospital for surgery.
Earlier in the day, a hospital official said on the condition of anonymity that it was “fortunate that the damaged area is the jugular vein,” adding that Lee could have immediately died at the scene if the wound had occurred on the carotid artery.
Eyewitnesses recount that the male suspect, approached the politician under the guise of a supporter, requesting an autograph amid a crowd of supporters and reporters. The assailant then proceeded to carry out the attack.
The suspect was arrested at the scene and hauled away by police.
Police identified the suspect as a man born in 1957 and surnamed Kim. He used an 18-centimeter-long knife purchased online for the attack, police said.
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said it plans to charge Kim with attempted murder, as he has confessed to intending to kill Lee.
“An investigation is under way for matters such as the exact motive,” Soh Je-han, an officer at the agency, told a press briefing.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is transferred to a hospital in Seoul after he was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the southeastern port city of Busan on Jan. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)
Police said they are currently investigating whether Kim is a member of any political party.
The suspect was also found to have been around the site of an event Lee attended in Busan last month.
Video footage uploaded on YouTube shows the suspect waiting for Lee in the crowd but being unable to make close contact. The suspect was wearing the same paper crown with the words “I’m Lee Jae-myung” as he did Tuesday.
he police and relevant authorities to swiftly determine the facts and make every effort to quickly transport Lee to a hospital and provide him with treatment, according to his spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung.
Yoon also stressed that such violence should never be tolerated under any circumstances, Kim said.
The DP condemned the attack on its leader, categorizing it as an act of terror and a threat to democracy.
“This should never have happened under any circumstances,” the DP’s chief spokesperson, Rep. Kwon Chil-seung, told reporters in front of the hospital.
The country’s police chief announced the formation of a special investigation team in Busan to conduct a thorough and swift inquiry into the attack.
“Security protection for key personnel will be strengthened to prevent similar incidents from occurring,” Yoon Hee-keun, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, said in a press release.
Prosecutors also said they have formed a special investigation team to get to the bottom of the attack.
(Yonhap)
