Seoul, South Korea:

South Korean opposition social gathering chief Lee Jae-myung was stabbed within the neck with a knife on Tuesday by a person who pushed via a crowd pretending to be his supporter, police mentioned.

Lee was surrounded by journalists and supporters at a development web site within the southern port metropolis of Busan when a person lunged and struck him within the neck, South Korean tv channels confirmed.

He was bleeding however aware as he was rushed to a neighborhood college hospital, the Yonhap information company reported, earlier than being flown to the capital Seoul for surgical procedure, in accordance with an official from his social gathering.

The assailant, a person in his 60s, “used an 18-centimetre knife — its blade is 13 centimetres long — which he purchased online”, Busan police officer Son Je-han mentioned at a press briefing.

Police had been seen wrestling the suspect, who displayed a pro-Lee slogan, to the bottom. The man was arrested on the scene. His motive is “being investigated”, Son mentioned.

The 59-year-old Lee was “walking to his car while talking to reporters when the attacker asked for his autograph”, a witness advised native broadcaster YTN.

He was seen collapsing to the bottom as folks rushed to help him after the assault.

One man was seen urgent a handkerchief on Lee’s neck earlier than emergency responders carried him to an ambulance.

“This is an act of terror against Lee and a serious threat to democracy that should never occur under any circumstances,” Kwon Chil-seung, an MP from Lee’s Democratic Party, advised reporters outdoors the hospital in Busan.

Lee was later flown to the capital, the place Kwon mentioned he would endure surgical procedure on the Seoul National University Hospital.

Yonhap earlier reported, citing hearth division officers, that Lee suffered a one-centimetre laceration within the assault.

It cited a hospital official as saying it was “fortunate that the damaged area is the jugular vein” and never the carotid artery.

Presidential contender

Lee misplaced in 2022 to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol within the tightest presidential race in South Korea’s historical past.

Yoon expressed “deep concern over the safety of Lee Jae-myung upon hearing of the attack”, his spokeswoman Kim Soo-kyung mentioned.

“Yoon emphasised our society should never tolerate this kind of act of violence under any circumstances.”

A former little one manufacturing facility employee who suffered an industrial accident as a teenage college drop-out, Lee rose to political stardom partly by taking part in up his rags-to-riches story.

He is broadly anticipated to run for president once more in 2027, and up to date polls have indicated that he stays a robust contender.

But Lee’s bid for the highest workplace has been overshadowed by a string of scandals.

He prevented arrest in September when a court docket dismissed a request from the prosecution for him to be taken into custody pending trial on varied corruption fees.

Lee nonetheless faces trial on fees of bribery in reference to a agency that’s suspected of illicitly transferring $8 million to North Korea.

He can also be accused of breaching his duties, allegedly leading to a lack of 20 billion gained ($15 million) for a corporation owned by Seongnam metropolis throughout his time period as its mayor.

Lee has denied all allegations in opposition to him.

In August final 12 months, he launched a starvation strike in opposition to what he known as the Yoon authorities’s “incompetent and violent” insurance policies.

He was hospitalised due to fasting-related illnesses after not consuming for 19 days.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)