South Korean opposition leader stabbed in neck, rushed to hospital

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has been rushed to hospital after he was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the southeastern port city of Busan.

Lee, who heads the main opposition Democratic Party, was stabbed on the left side of his neck during a question and answer session with journalists on Tuesday morning, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

Citing witnesses, it said the suspect had approached Lee for an autograph and pretending to be a supporter. He then attacked him with a weapon that was between 20 and 30 centimetres (7.9 – 11.8 inches) long.  The unidentified man was arrested at the scene, the agency added.

Pictures in South Korean media showed Lee lying on his back on the ground with his eyes closed, as officials crowded around him and one pressed a cloth against his neck. Yonhap said the politician was bleeding, but remained conscious.

Lee, who had earlier toured the site of a new airport under construction on Busan’s Gadeok Island, ran for the presidency in 2022, but lost out to conservative Yoon Suk-yeol.

Yoon said Tuesday’s attack was unacceptable and called for an immediate and thorough investigation.

Born into a poor farming family, Lee entered politics when he was elected mayor of Seongnam, a satellite city of Seoul, in 2010. He worked in a factory to put himself through night school and become a human rights lawyer.

(Aljazeera)