{"id":43063,"date":"2024-01-02T20:52:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T20:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/south-korea-opposition-chief-stabbed-recovering-after-surgery-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-01-02T20:52:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T20:52:07","slug":"south-korea-opposition-chief-stabbed-recovering-after-surgery-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/south-korea-opposition-chief-stabbed-recovering-after-surgery-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea opposition chief stabbed, recovering after surgery | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nSEOUL:
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South Korean opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday by a man who lunged at him with a knife after asking for his autograph, officials said.<\/p>\n

Lee, 59, was rushed to hospital, where he underwent surgery to repair a major blood vessel, and was later recovering and conscious in an intensive care unit, party spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung told reporters.<\/p>\n

Kwon condemned the attack, weeks before a parliamentary election that is due in April, as “political terror”.<\/p>\n

Lee, who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election and is on trial on bribery charges he denies, was attacked in the southern city of Busan while touring the site of a proposed new airport and speaking to journalists and supporters.<\/p>\n

The suspect, wearing a paper crown with Lee’s name on it, approached Lee, asked for an autograph and then lunged forward and stabbed him in the neck, video footage showed.<\/p>\n

Lee grimaced, staggered back into the crowd behind him and collapsed. Photographs showed him on the ground with his eyes closed and bleeding, and a handkerchief being held against his neck.<\/p>\n

Lee was airlifted to the capital Seoul after receiving emergency treatment in Busan, and had two hours of surgery at the Seoul National University Hospital.<\/p>\n

Read also: Fourteen hurt in South Korea stabbing incident near Seoul<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The assailant was quickly subdued by party officials and police officers, the video footage showed.<\/p>\n

A Busan police official, Son Je-han, said the assailant was born in 1957 and used an 18-cm (seven-inch) knife that had been bought online. He did not identify the suspect and said the motive was being investigated.<\/p>\n

“This type of violence must never be tolerated under any circumstances,” President Yoon Suk Yeol was quoted as saying by his office.<\/p>\n

History of political violence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lee, a former governor of Gyeonggi province, lost to conservative Yoon, a former chief prosecutor, in the 2022 election. He has led the main opposition party since August 2022.<\/p>\n

Lee faces bribery allegations stemming from a development project when he was mayor of Seongnam near Seoul but denies wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

South Korea has a history of political violence despite tough restrictions on gun possession. Political leaders are not usually under close security protection.<\/p>\n

Lee’s predecessor, Song Young-gil, was hurt in 2022 by an assailant who swung a blunt object against his head.<\/p>\n

Then conservative opposition party leader Park Geun-hye, who later served as president, was slashed in the face in 2006. Her father, Park Chung-hee, who was president for 16 years, was shot and killed by his spy chief in 1979 at a drunken private dinner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n