This is horrible and hopefully Lee Jae-myung is able to fully recover from this attack:
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was attacked during a visit to the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday and taken to a hospital while conscious.
Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, was attacked on the left side of his neck by an unidentified man at 10:27 a.m. during a question and answer session with reporters after touring the construction site of a new airport on Busan’s Gadeok Island.
Lee was transferred to Pusan National University Hospital approximately 20 minutes after the attack.
At the time of the transfer, Lee remained conscious, but the bleeding continued.
The male suspect, pretending to be one of Lee’s supporters, approached the politician asking for an autograph and then carried out the attack with an unidentified weapon approximately 20-30 centimeters in length, according to eyewitnesses.
He was arrested at the scene.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but this is not the first time political violence like this has happened in South Korea. Park Geun-hye was slashed in the face in 2006 and U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert’s face and neck back in 2015. Hopefully the man that committed this latest political violence spends a long time in jail.
Here is the DP once again demagoging a tragic accident to score political points. There was clearly poor planning at the local level that contributed to this tragedy, however the opposition makes it seem like President Yoon should of been out there leading crowd control that tragic night:
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, delivers a speech at Seoul Plaza in the capital city during a memorial event to mark the first anniversary of the deadly Itaewon crowd crush that killed 159 people during Halloween celebrations last year, in this photo taken on Sunday. (Yonhap)
The main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung vowed Sunday to get to the truth about the deadly Itaewon crowd crush and work to hold those accountable to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
Lee made the pledge during a memorial event held to mark the first anniversary of the deadly crowd crush that took the lives of 159 people during Halloween celebrations in the popular hangout district of Itaewon.
“It has been one year since 159 universes, and 159 worlds collapsed, but nothing has changed. The desperate appeals by the bereaved families are again ignored today, and those in power are only bent on covering up the truth,” Lee said in a speech at Seoul Plaza.
“We will reveal the truth by quickly passing special legislation on the Itaewon tragedy, hold those responsible accountable and make sure something like this won’t happen again,” Lee said.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
Here is what prosecutors have to say about a Korean court dropping the arrest warrant against Lee Jae-myung this week:
In the left photo, ruling People Power Party Chairman Kim Gi-hyeon, left, and other party lawmakers hold banners condemning a court’s decision to reject a warrant for the arrest of main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Jae-myung, during a lawmakers’ meeting at the National Assembly, Wednesday. In the right photo, DPK floor leader Hong Ihk-pyo, front, applauds with other party members during a lawmakers’ meeting at the Assembly, Wednesday. Yonhap
Following the dismissal of the warrant, prosecutors said that the decision could have been affected by Lee’s political status.
“There seems to be a stark difference between the prosecution and the court regarding the decision and its grounds,” Prosecutor-General Lee One-seok told reporters Wednesday.
“Although the court recognized the prosecution’s claims of illegalities, it apparently focused on providing defense rights to Lee based on his status as the chairman of a political party.” He added that judicial matters should not be influenced by political factors.
“An arrest warrant is nothing more than part of the process of investigating crimes, and the dismissal does not mean innocence,” Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said.
“Even if a politician commits a crime, the judiciary does not and should not become political,” Han added. “I believe the prosecution will continue its investigation without being swayed.”
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
It looks like Lee Jae-myung will avoid being arrested and detained as the investigation into the corruption charges around him continues:
A Seoul court on Wednesday rejected an arrest warrant sought for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung over corruption charges, a decision that averted the biggest crisis yet for the former presidential candidate.
The Seoul Central District Court made the decision following a hearing attended by Lee, chair of the Democratic Party (DP). It marked the first time the leader of South Korea’s main opposition party has attended an arrest warrant hearing.
“In comprehensive consideration of the degree to which the defendant’s right to defense is needed and the extent of concerns about the possible destruction of evidence, it is difficult to see the rationale and need for his arrest to the extent that the principle of investigation without detention should be ruled out,” a court judge said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Lee Jae-myung is in the hospital now and thus able to achieve sympathey from the Korean left in an attempt to hopefully avoid arrest. I guess we will see if this tactic works:
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who has been on a hunger strike in protest against what he called a slew of the Yoon government’s policy failures, ended his fasting after more than three weeks, a party official said Saturday.
“Chairman Lee will end the hunger strike on its 24th day and begin treatment for recovery,” Kang Sun-woo, a spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said in a briefing.
“The medical team treating Lee strongly called for Lee to immediately call off the hunger strike as continuing it would have severely hurt his health,” Kang said, adding that Lee is willing to carry out his work schedule in consultation with the medical staff.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
This further explains why Lee Jae-myung went on his so called hunger strike so he could be hospitalized because he likely knew many members of his own DPK political party, who are in the majority in the National Assembly, would defect to vote in favor of the motion to allow a vote on his arrest:
Parliamentary speaker Kim Jin-pyo (2nd from L) and the floor leaders of the two major rival parties are seen checking a ballot cast on a motion to waive opposition leader Lee Jae-myung’s immunity from arrest, at the National Assembly in Seoul, on Sept. 21, 2023. (Yonhap)
The National Assembly on Thursday passed a motion seeking parliamentary consent to the potential arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, a surprise result that shows a number of dissenting votes from Lee’s own Democratic Party (DP).
With the motion’s passage in a 149-136 vote, a court hearing will be held to determine whether to grant the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Lee on corruption charges in connection with a land development project and a company’s illegal cash remittance to North Korea.
But it is unclear whether Lee will show up for the hearing, considering he has been on a hunger strike since Aug. 31 to protest President Yoon Suk Yeol’s handling of state affairs and was hospitalized earlier this week due to deteriorating health.
The motion needed at least 148 votes in favor to pass. Given that Lee’s DP has 168 lawmakers in the 298-member National Assembly, the result suggests that dozens of DP lawmakers voted in favor of the potential arrest of their party leader.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but his hospitalization is last move to seek sympathy from members of the DPK to not vote for his potential arrest.
Very convenient that Lee Jae-myung checks himself into a hospital due to his so call hunger strike when prosecutors issue an arrest warrant for him:
Democratic Party of Korea head Rep. Lee Jae-myung, who is on day 19 of his hunger strike against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, is transferred out of his office on a stretcher Monday morning. (Yonhap)
Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the bedridden leader of the Democratic Party of Korea on a strike against what he calls President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “tyrannical rule,” is wanted by prosecutors on an arrest warrant request for the second time this year.
Seoul prosecutors said Monday they filed a request for an arrest warrant against Lee, who is already a defendant in two corruption trials, on three different counts of accusations.
One is that he colluded with a policy aide while he was mayor of Seongnam to hand favors such as a change in land permits to private developers, allowing them to illicitly profit from a city development project. The second is that he personated a prosecutor, and then asked a witness to testify falsely in court. The last is that he, as governor of Gyeonggi Province, paid North Korean authorities to organize his Pyongyang trip and to negotiate the province’s business deals with North Korea.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
Here is typical Korean political theater from Lee Jae-myung to try and gain public sympathy as he fights corruption allegations. The fact that he is going to these lengths of politcal theater shows that he is very concerned he is going to get the Lee Myung-bak treatment:
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung expressed his desire Monday to continue his hunger strike even after he was taken to a hospital due to deteriorating health on the 19th day of his fast earlier in the day, officials said.
Spokesperson Han Min-soo of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) delivered the information to reporters after Lee was transferred to a nearby hospital earlier, suffering dizziness and a sharp drop in blood sugar levels.
“Lee will only receive a minimal amount of IV treatment and will not consume any food. The move is interpreted as his will to put a stop to the reckless administration,” Han said.
Regarding Lee’s condition, Han said Lee is out of immediate danger but is far from regaining vitality.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
