While on a visit to the city of Busan, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of South Korea was stabbed in the neck.

According to accounts, Mr. Lee, who came just short of winning the 2022 presidential contest, suffered a 1 centimeter cut on the left side of his neck.

The hospital was reached by airlift. The wound is not considered life-threatening by the doctors.

According to Yonhap news agency, the 66-year-old man who attacked Mr. Lee claimed he had planned to murder him. It's unclear why the attack occurred.

Politicians and political parties across the country, including the current President Yoon Suk Yeol, denounced the heinous attack that occurred during the day and shook the nation.

Tuesday morning's stabbing occurred when Mr. Lee, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was speaking to reporters at a news conference while touring a building site in the port of Busan.

It was stated that the assailant went up to get his autograph but then abruptly moved to stab him. At a media briefing, authorities revealed that the attacker's weapon was an 18cm (7in) knife that he claimed to have purchased online. The assailant was quickly subdued and taken into custody.

According to Yonhap, the individual will face attempted murder charges from the prosecution.

Social media videos of the attack show Mr. Lee falling to the ground and then into the crowd as other people attempt to apprehend the assailant. After the incident, pictures of Mr. Lee were taken, showing him lying on the ground with his eyes closed as someone covered his neck with a handkerchief.

Medical personnel may have injured Mr. Lee's jugular vein, which transports blood from the head to the heart, according to a spokeswoman for his party. The spokesperson, Kwon Chil-seung, stated that they were worried about Mr. Lee continuing to hemorrhage and that he would need surgery.

"We intend to start operating as soon as possible after moving to Seoul National University Hospital. We strongly condemn the incident and consider it a clear act of democracy damage," he said.

Currently serving in the legislature of South Korea, Mr. Lee,59, represents Incheon. It is generally anticipated that he will run for office in the upcoming April general election.

The 2022 presidential contest was the closest in South Korean history, with Mr. Yoon defeating him by a tiny 0.73% margin in the total number of votes. It is generally anticipated that he would run in the 2027 presidential election.

Following his defeat in the vote, prosecutors have accused him on counts of corruption and breach of trust. They claim that during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam, a one million-person city located south of Seoul, he permitted private developers to unlawfully profit from a real estate project. Defending against those accusations, Mr. Lee said they were motivated by politics.

A September court ruling denied the prosecution's plea for him to be detained until the charges were tried. He is still being looked at by prosecutors in a number of other cases involving corruption during his administration.

Three weeks after Mr. Lee went on a hunger strike in protest of Mr. Yoon's foreign and domestic policies, the court issued its order. Mr. Lee went 19 days without eating and needed medical attention.

Although there was an increase in large-scale stabbing incidents in South Korea last year, the nation still has a low crime rate overall. The possession of firearms and other weapons is strictly prohibited throughout the nation, however most prominent people are not always closely guarded.

Politicians in South Korea have been the target of multiple armed physical attacks in the past.

When Song Young-gil, Mr. Lee's predecessor as Democratic Party leader, was out campaigning for him in March 2022, she was struck with a blunt object. He was cut on one side.

Park Geun-hye, the head of the conservative party and eventual president, sustained facial injuries from a knife attack in 2006.

Her father, Park Chung-hee, the 16-year president, was shot and died in 1979 by his spy chief at a private dinner.