South Korean police search home of suspect who stabbed opposition leader

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police on Wednesday searched the home and office of a man who stabbed opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in the neck, while he was hospitalized in a care unit. intensive, authorities said.

The attack occurred the day before, when Lee was passing through a crowd of reporters after visiting the construction of a new airport in the city of Busan, in the southeast of the country. The attacker, who posed as a supporter, approached Lee asking for an autograph before pulling out a 7-inch (18-centimeter) knife to stab him.

After receiving emergency treatment in Busan, Lee was taken by helicopter to Seoul National University Hospital, where he underwent surgery. Cho Jeong-sik, general secretary of his party, explained Wednesday that the two-hour operation was a success and that Lee remained in the center’s ICU to recover. Police and emergency services had said Lee was conscious after the attack and that he was not in critical condition.

The suspect was detained by police immediately after the attack. According to police, he told investigators that he had tried to assassinate the politician and that he prepared his lone attack, but his motives are unknown.

Busan police said they sent officers to search the detainee’s residence and office in the central city of Asan on Wednesday as part of their investigation. The authorities indicated that they plan to request a formal arrest warrant against him for alleged attempted murder.

Police revealed few other details about the suspect except that he is about 67 years old and that he purchased the climbing knife online. Authorities declined to reveal what type of office he has in Asan, but local press photos showed agents checking a real estate office.

Lee, 59, is a liberal politician with a direct style who lost the 2022 election to President Yoon Suk Yeol by 0.7 percentage points, the narrowest margin ever recorded in a South Korean presidential election. The tight presidential race and post-election disputes between his allies have aggravated the division between conservatives and liberals in the country.

Recent polls have placed Lee as one of the two favorites for the next presidential election in 2027, along with Yoon’s popular former Justice Minister, Han Dong-hoon. The law prevents Yoon from running for re-election.

At a New Year’s meeting with senior officials, politicians and citizens, Yoon on Wednesday repeated his wish for a speedy recovery for Lee. Additionally, she called the attack “a terrorist attack” that is “an enemy to all of us and an enemy to liberal democracy,” according to her office.

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Associated Press writer Jiwon Song contributed to this report.