South Korean man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, for stabbing opposition leader in the neck earlier in 2024, court officials announced Friday.
The knife-wielding assailant attacked Lee Jae-myung, head of South Korea’s largest political party, the liberal Democratic Party, in January.
The incident occurred during an event in the southeastern city of Busan, where the attacker approached Lee under the guise of seeking an autograph.
Following his apprehension by police, the assailant confessed to authorities that his intent was to kill Lee in order to prevent him from ascending to the presidency.
The Busan District Court handed down the prison sentence after finding the man guilty of attempted murder and violating an election law. Both the defendant and prosecutors have one week to appeal the verdict.
The assault took place ahead of South Korea’s crucial parliamentary elections in April, during which Lee’s Democratic Party and other opposition groups secured a significant victory against President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative governing party.
The court characterized the attack as “a serious challenge” to the country’s electoral integrity and a deed that “greatly undermines social consensus and trust in fundamental liberal democratic principles,” as reported by Yonhap news agency.
The verdict noted that the assailant harbored long-standing animosity toward Lee due to political disagreements, had rehearsed the act of stabbing him in the neck beforehand, and had stalked him at multiple public events.
The court’s public affairs office did not immediately confirm the specifics of Friday’s ruling, and the identity of the assailant was not disclosed by the court.
Earlier police reports indicated the attacker is approximately 67 years old.
The attack left Lee injured and hospitalized for eight days, during which he underwent surgery and received medical treatment. Upon leaving a Seoul hospital later in January, Lee expressed his desire to see an end to “politics driven by hatred” in South Korea.
In his interrogation by police, the assailant expressed dissatisfaction with what he perceived as insufficient progress in the authorities’ investigations into corruption allegations against Lee.
He stated that his motive for attempting to kill Lee was to sabotage his party’s chances in the parliamentary elections and to eliminate the possibility of Lee becoming South Korea’s next president.
Democratic Party officials confirmed earlier that the assailant had joined their ranks the previous year. While the ruling People Power Party clarified that he is no longer affiliated with them, media reports indicated that the man, identified only by the surname Kim, had previously been associated with the party’s predecessor.
Lee, known for his outspoken nature as a former provincial governor, narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon, a former senior prosecutor.
Their closely contested race and subsequent political tensions have exacerbated South Korea’s already deep-seated conservative-liberal divide.
Polls suggest that Lee is considered an early frontrunner for the 2027 presidential election, while Yoon is legally prohibited from seeking re-election.
