SEOUL – South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday by a man who pushed his way through a crowd pretending to be his supporter.

South Korean television channels showed Lee was surrounded by journalists and supporters at a construction site in the southern port city of Busan when a man jumped him and hit him in the neck.

He was bleeding but conscious when he was taken to a local university hospital, Yonhap news agency reported, before being flown to the capital Seoul for surgery, according to an official from his party.

Police officers were seen wrestling the attacker, who was wearing 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 speaking to reporters when the attacker asked for an autograph,” a witness told local broadcaster YTN, adding that Lee was then hit with what “looked like a knife.” .

The 59-year-old was seen falling to the ground while people rushed to his aid. One of them pressed a tissue to Lee’s neck before emergency workers carried him to an ambulance.

“This is a terrorist act against Lee and a serious threat to democracy that should not happen under any circumstances,” Kwon Chil-seung, a lawmaker 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 Seoul National University Hospital.

According to South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo news agency, police in Busan said Lee suffered a “one centimeter laceration on his neck” and “remained conscious and bleeding was minor.”

According to police officials quoted by Yonhap, the attacker did not specify his motive.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

Lee lost to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022 in the closest presidential election in South Korean history.

Yoon expressed “deep concern for Lee Jae-myung’s safety upon hearing of the attack,” his spokeswoman Kim Soo-kyung said.

“Yoon emphasized that our society should not tolerate this kind of violence under any circumstances.”

Lee, a former children’s factory worker who suffered an industrial accident as a teenager who dropped out of school, rose to political prominence in part by playing up his rags-to-riches story.

He is widely expected to run for president again in 2027, and recent polls suggest he remains a strong contender.

But Lee’s bid for the top office was overshadowed by a series of scandals.

He evaded arrest in September when a court rejected a prosecutor’s request to remand him on various corruption charges.

Lee is still on trial on bribery charges related to a company suspected of illegally transferring $8 million to North Korea.

He is also accused of breaching his duties, which allegedly resulted in a 20 billion won ($15 million) loss for a Seongnam City-owned company during his term as mayor.

Lee has denied all allegations against him.

In August last year, he went on a hunger strike against what he called the Yoon government’s “incompetent and violent” policies.

He was hospitalized for fasting-related ailments after not eating for 19 days.