South Korean Politician Recovering After Being Stabbed in Neck

CNN reports that Lee Jae-myung is now recovering in intensive care after undergoing surgery for his wounds

South Korean Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday during a visit to the city of Busan, after a man asked for his autograph then lunged at him with a knife.

CNN reports that Lee, 59, is now recovering in intensive care after undergoing surgery for his wounds, according to Democratic Party spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung, who told reporters Lee's jugular vein had been damaged.

The incident occurred as Lee — who narrowly lost South Korea's 2022 presidential election — was speaking to journalists and supporters during a tour of a proposed new airport site, Reuters reports.

Video footage taken during the attack shows a suspect wearing a paper crown with Lee's name on it, approaching him and asking for an autograph before suddenly stabbing him in the neck. Lee then fell on the ground, with photographs showing him laying down as others pressed a handkerchief to his neck.

Lee is the head of South Korea's opposition party, and rose through the ranks of the country's political establishment as a former factory worker-turned-human rights lawyer.

The stabbing came as he is currently on trial for bribery charges, Reuters reports. Lee has denied the charges against him.

In a statement, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the attack, saying, "This type of violence must never be tolerated under any circumstances."

Related: All About Shinzo Abe, the Former Japanese Prime Minister Who Was Assassinated During Campaign Speech

Violence against South Korean political officials is nothing new, with Song Young-gil — who led the country's Democratic party prior to Lee — injured in 2022 after an assailant struck him in the head with a hammer.

And in 2006, conservative opposition party leader Park Geun-hye — one of the most prominent women in South Korean politics who would go on to serve as the country's president — was injured after being slashed in the face.

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The attack also comes a year and a half after Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister,  died after sustaining gunshot wounds during a campaign speech in Nara, Japan,

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