opposition leader stabbed in the neck in front of journalists

2024-01-02 05:24:48
South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, on a stretcher, is carried by a rescue team in Busan, South Korea, after he was stabbed in the neck, January 2, 2024. HA KYUNG-MIN / AP

Astonishment in South Korea. While speaking with journalists occasionally in the southeast of the country, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday, January 2.

The Yonhap news agency published a photo in which the politician appears on the ground, a handkerchief covering his wound. He was still conscious when he was taken to hospital. The assailant was arrested on site, according to the same source. South Korean media cited witnesses who said the man used a knife-like weapon to attack Mr Lee’s neck.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed his “deep concern for Lee Jae-myung’s safety after learning of the attack”reported the presidency. “Mr. Yoon stressed that our society should never tolerate this type of act of violence, regardless of the circumstances”added spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung.

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A candidacy for the presidency marred by scandals

Leader of the Democratic Party, Mr. Lee lost to conservative Yoon Suk-yeol in South Korea’s 2022 presidential election. Mr. Lee, a former worker and governor of Gyeonggi province, the country’s most populous and which surrounding Seoul, had proposed original measures, including a universal minimum income and free school uniforms.

But his candidacy for the presidency was marred by a series of scandals. Mr. Lee had notably been criticized for a real estate transaction considered dubious. There were also rumors that he had links with the mafia and his wife was accused of illegally using public money.

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In September 2023, Mr. Lee avoided arrest after a court rejected a request from the prosecution to remand him in custody pending trial on various corruption charges. He is suspected of corruption in connection with a company that allegedly illegally transferred $8 million to North Korea.

Mr. Lee is also accused of having caused a company to lose 20 billion won (nearly 14 million euros) to a company owned by the city of Seongnam (northwest) of which he was mayor.

The World with AFP