“The suspect decided to kill Lee to prevent him from becoming president,” Busan police chief Woo Cheol-mun told reporters. He said the suspect had been planning the attack for months.
He acquired the knife used in the attack in April and followed Lee Jae-myung five times since June, posing as a supporter and waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Police said the man was motivated by his political beliefs to commit the crime.
The suspect was also unhappy about what he saw as the slow pace of prosecution of the opposition leader, who faces several cases.
Liberal Lee Jae-myung lost to President Yoon Suk-yeol by 0.7 percentage points in the 2022 presidential election, the narrowest margin ever recorded in a South Korean presidential election. Their tight race for office and the post-election standoff between their allies deepened South Korea’s already deep divisions between conservatives and liberals.
Lee Jae-myung is expected to run for president again in 2027, and recent polls suggest he remains a strong contender.
But his bid for the top job has been marred by a string of scandals, and he faces trial on bribery charges linked to a company that allegedly illegally transferred $8 million. US dollars (7.3 million euros) to North Korea.
“Politics of Hate”
Lee Jae-myung, 60, was discharged from Seoul National University Hospital and told reporters that the attack on him should serve as an impetus to reform South Korea’s embattled political arena.
“It is my sincere hope that this incident will become a cornerstone to end the politics of hate and restore the politics of respect and coexistence,” he said in his first speech since the incident. “I myself will also reflect on my work and try very hard to create a politics of hope.”
According to Yonhap news agency, the suspect is a 66-year-old real estate agent surnamed Kim. He is said to have had financial difficulties and was unable to pay his office rent for seven months.
In recent years, several high-ranking politicians have been publicly attacked in South Korea.
In 2022, an elderly man hit Song Young-gil (Sen Jongil), the leader of the Democratic Party before Lee Jae-myung, on the head with a hammer-like object.
In 2006, the then leader of the conservative party, Park Geun-hye, who later became president, was attacked with a knife during a rally. The attack left a scar on her face.
South Korea’s politics are notoriously hostile, with many former presidents being prosecuted by rivals and jailed for corruption after leaving office, and later pardoned.
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2024-07-03 07:05:45