South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung stabbed

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Lee Jae-myung, 59, was taken to Busan National University Hospital in the south of the city by ambulance and then by helicopter, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said. . He was then still conscious, according to the same source, after having been stabbed by a man in his sixties who was neutralized by police officers. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition in South Korea, suffers from a neck injury.

“ This is an act of terror against Mr. Lee and a serious threat to democracy that should never happen under any circumstances Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon Chil-seung told reporters outside the hospital. “ As for Mr. Lee’s health condition, we are awaiting doctors’ assessment.”he added, demanding the opening of an investigation “ in-depth “.

Leader of the Democratic Party, Mr. Lee lost to conservative and current South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in the 2022 presidential election.

Mr. Yoon expressed his “ grave concern for Lee Jae-myung’s safety after learning of attack », According to the spokesperson for the South Korean presidency, Kim Soo-kyung. It also “ stressed that our society should never tolerate this type of act of violence, regardless of the circumstances “, she added.

A former worker and governor of Gyeonggi province, the most populous in the country and which surrounds Seoul, Mr. Lee proposed original measures, including a universal minimum income and free school uniforms during the last presidential campaign.

But his candidacy was marred by a series of scandals. Mr. Lee had notably been criticized for real estate transaction deemed doubtful. Rumors had also given him links with the mafia and his wife had been accused of illegal use of public funds. Prosecuted, he had led a hunger strike last September and had to be hospitalized.

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