South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday while visiting the southern port city of Busan.
Lee, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, was conscious and airlifted to Busan University Hospital, party officials and fire department officials told Reuters. According to Yonhap News, he was attacked by an unknown man while touring a planned airport construction site.
The attack left Lee with a 1cm-long cut on his neck, YTN TV reported.
News photos showed the attacker, believed to be a man in his 50s or 60s, wearing a paper crown with Lee's name printed on it. Video footage showed he approached Mr Lee in the crowd of supporters and asked for his autograph before lunging forward and attacking him. The assailant was quickly apprehended and arrested on the spot.
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South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is injured in Busan, South Korea, on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (Son Hyun Joo/Yonhap News, Associated Press)
The assailant refused to answer police questions about his motive, the daily newspaper Busan Ilbo reported.
Video clips aired on YTN television and social media showed a man lunging at Lee with his arms outstretched, before Lee fell to the ground, wincing.
News photos showed Lee lying on the ground with his eyes closed while others pressed handkerchiefs to the side of his neck.
Approximately 20 police officers were responding to the scene.
According to the Blue House, President Yoon Seok-yeol condemned the attack as unacceptable. The President expressed deep concern for Mr Lee and asked him to receive the best treatment for a speedy recovery.
Lee, a former governor of Gyeonggi Province, narrowly lost to conservative former prosecutor general Yoon in the 2022 presidential election. Lee has been leading the main opposition party since August 2022.
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South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is carried on a stretcher by a rescue team in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (Ha Kyung-min/Newsis, Associated Press)
South Korea's next parliamentary election is scheduled for April.
Despite strict restrictions on gun ownership, South Korea has a history of political violence related to other weapons.
Lee's predecessor, Song Yong-gil, suffered lacerations in 2022 after an assailant swung a blunt object at his head at a public event.
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Park Geun-hye, then leader of the conservative opposition party who later became president, was attacked with a knife at an event in 2006 and suffered cuts to her face that required surgery.
In 2015, then-U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert was attacked by an assailant while attending a public event, leaving him with a large cut on his face.
Reuters contributed to this report.
