South Korean opposition leader stabbed in neck, expected to undergo surgery
South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday by a man who pushed through a crowd pretending to be his supporter, News.Az reports citing AFP.
Lee was surrounded by journalists and supporters at a construction site in the southern port city of Busan when a man lunged and struck him in the neck, South Korean television channels showed.
He was bleeding but conscious as he was rushed to a local university hospital, the Yonhap news agency reported, before being flown to the capital Seoul for surgery, according to an official from his party.
Police were seen wrestling the assailant, who wore a hat with a pro-Lee slogan, to the ground. He was arrested at the scene, Yonhap reported.
Lee was "walking to his car while talking to reporters when the attacker asked for his autograph", a witness told local broadcaster YTN, adding that Lee was then struck with what "looked like a knife".
The 59-year-old was seen collapsing to the ground as people rushed to aid him, one of whom pressed a handkerchief on Lee's neck before 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, told reporters outside the hospital in Busan.
Lee was later flown to the capital, where Kwon said he would undergo surgery at the Seoul National University Hospital.
Police in Busan said Lee suffered a "one-centimetre laceration on his neck" and that he "remains conscious and bleeding is minor", according to South Korean news outlet Chosun Ilbo.
The attacker has not stated his motive, according to police officials cited by Yonhap.
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