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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, tipped by many as a potential president, was in stable condition Tuesday after an assault with a knife during a visit to Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city.
Minimal news was available on his attacker, a man surnamed Kim, thought to be 66 or 67 years old. The assailant, who approached the left-leaning lawmaker saying he wanted an autograph, has refused to reveal his motive or his affiliation. Police said he admitted his plan was to “kill Chairman Lee,” and a charge of attempted murder was expected.
Although South Korea prides itself on its lack of street crime and terrorist attacks have been unknown since the 1980s, assaults on public figures by “lone wolf” assailants wielding handheld weapons are not uncommon.
After the incident Tuesday, the national police chief vowed to upgrade close protection and announced the formation of a special investigation team in Busan.
Mr. Lee, 59, who heads the left-leaning Democratic Party of Korea and is widely expected to make another run for president in 2027, was on the campaign trail as South Koreans geared up for April parliamentary elections. At 10:27, he was assaulted by a man with a knife while visiting the site of a new airport in the port city of Busan in the southeast.
TV footage showed the attacker approaching Mr. Lee through a crowd of supporters, reporters and police before lunging forward. In the subsequent melee, the attacker was swiftly wrestled to the ground and restrained.
Footage showed Mr. Lee, eyes tightly shut, lying on his back as members of his entourage pressed a handkerchief to a bloody wound in the side of his neck.
Rep. Kwon Chil-seung, a DPK spokesperson, told reporters that the party leader underwent a two-hour surgery to repair his jugular vein and was airlifted to the leading Seoul National University Hospital. Mr. Lee’s condition after surgery was reportedly stable. Officials said the wound could have been far more severe if it had been just a few inches to the side.
“It took longer than expected, and we are closely following his progress,” his party said in a statement picked up by local media. “We strongly condemn the act of political terror against Lee.”
The opposition party was set to hold an emergency meeting of its parliamentary caucus on Wednesday. DPK officials said it was too early to speculate on motives for the attack or to calculate the political fallout.
The attacker was immediately arrested. Police said his name is Kim, South Korea’s most common surname, and he was born in 1957 and wielded a 7-inch knife.
Video footage aired by local media outlets captured the man as he attempted but failed to approach Mr. Lee during a visit to Busan last month.
President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed concern about Mr. Lee’s condition and said such violence was “intolerable” under any circumstance.
Mr. Lee, a polarizing, populist firebrand who lost the 2022 presidential election to the conservative Mr. Yoon by just 0.7% of the vote, has proved to be politically durable.
He has faced constant police and judicial investigations into alleged bribery as mayor of Seongnam. Though several of his affiliates have died by suicide, no charges have stuck against Mr. Lee, who calls the investigations “a political conspiracy.”
In September, he looked doomed when a bipartisan group of national lawmakers, including 21 members of his own party, voted to strip him of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution. Yet Mr. Lee came out on top when judges refused to issue an arrest warrant.
In April, Mr. Lee’s party will seek to expand its majority in the National Assembly. If it succeeds, Mr. Yoon, who has had low approval ratings since his election, will be a lame duck halfway through his single, five-year term.
Today’s lone wolves, yesterday’s terrorists
No domestic extremist groups with territorial, religious or political grievances are known to be active in South Korea, and firearms laws are stringent. Still, neither factor has prevented a disturbing series of assaults on public figures on both sides of the political spectrum by lone wolves wielding handheld weapons.
In 2022, Mr. Lee’s predecessor as head of the DPK, Song Young-gil, was attacked at a public event with a hammer. Mr. Song escaped with a concussion. His attacker was a pro-reunification YouTuber and activist angry at joint military drills carried out by South Korea and the U.S.
Mark Lippert, U.S. ambassador to South Korea, was assaulted in 2015 with a knife at a breakfast event. He suffered a facial wound that required plastic surgery. His attacker was a violent nationalist who had assaulted Japan’s ambassador.
In 2006, conservative politician Park Geun-hye, who became president in 2013, was slashed in the face with a knife. Her wound also needed cosmetic surgery. The attacker, who had a long criminal record, was reportedly angry about his convictions.
Compounding the danger is the tradition that, in democratic South Korea, politicians on the campaign trail are expected to be visible and available to voters.
“I know of politicians who ask for their close protection not to be too hard on the public, as they want more contact,” said Yang Sung-mook, who has worked as an international relations adviser for the Democratic Party.
“It is not the case for important political figures like the leader of the opposition, but presidents are very well secured,” he said.
Tight presidential security is essential, given the deadliness of past political violence.
Ms. Park’s late mother, the wife of then-President Park Chung-hee, was assassinated by a man affiliated with North Korea in 1974. In 1979, Mr. Park was shot dead by his intelligence chief, though motives remain shadowy to this day.
Subsequent North Korean terrorism was less discriminate.
In 1983, North Korea bombed South Korea’s Cabinet during a visit to Myanmar, killing 21. In 1986, a bomb at Seoul’s Kimpo Airport killed five. In 1987, agents bombed a South Korean airliner, killing all 115 aboard.
These terrorist attacks tailed off after South Korea embraced democratic rule in 1987.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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