South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday while speaking to reporters in South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan, a Yonhap News Agency reported.
The Yonhap agency published a photo in which the politician appears on the ground, a handkerchief covering his wound
Mr Lee was still conscious when he was taken to hospital. The assailant was arrested on site, according to the same source.
Leader of the Democratic Party, Mr Lee lost to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in South Korea’s 2022 presidential election.
Mr. Lee, a former worker and governor of Gyeonggi province, the most populous in the country and which surrounds Seoul, had proposed original measures, including a universal minimum income and free school uniforms.
But his candidacy for the presidency was marred by a series of scandals.
Mr. Lee had notably been criticized for a real estate transaction considered dubious. There were also rumors that he had links with the mafia and his wife was accused of illegally using public money.
In September 2023, Mr. Lee avoided arrest after a court rejected a request from the prosecution to remand him in custody pending trial on various corruption charges.
He is suspected of corruption in connection with a company that allegedly illegally transferred $8 million to North Korea.
Mr. Lee is also accused of causing a company owned by the city of Seongnam (northwest) of which he was mayor to lose 20 billion won ($15 million).