South Korean Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung was appearing at a political event when a man wearing a blue paper crown bearing the words “I’m Lee Jae-myung” approached him for an autograph and stabbed him in the neck narrowing missing the carotid artery but piercing the jugular vision. Lee is recovering but the injury was severe.
Lee is one of South Korea’s most prominent politicians, the leader of the mainstream left-wing party and its most recent presidential candidate. Lee narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election to conservative current President Yoon Suk-yeol in a hard-fought election rife with negative campaigning. Breitbart.
Lee is in favor of normalizing relations with North Korea over time and some are seeing this attack as a commentary on this.
Stabbing attacks are not uncommon in South Korean politics. JoongAng Daily listed several recent incidents against presidents and major political party leaders – and the dramatic stabbing of a U.S. ambassador – from the last decade:
Another angel of the stabbing attack on South Korea’s main opposition leader Lee Jae-Myung.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 2, 2024
It looks bad.
He was stabbed in the throat with great force.
🇰🇷 https://t.co/FdC8l5kolY