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       South Korean Opposition Leader Is Stabbed

       Lee Jae-myung, who leads the Democratic Party, was attacked by a 66-year-old man in the city of Busan, the police said. Mr. Lee was flown to Seoul for treatment.

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       Lee Jae-myung after the attack on Tuesday morning in Busan, South Korea. By midafternoon there was still no official word on his condition, but local news reports suggested that his life was not in danger. Credit...Yonhap, via Reuters

       By Choe Sang-Hun

       Reporting from Seoul

       Published Jan. 1, 2024Updated Jan. 2, 2024, 3:46 a.m. ET

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       Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s main opposition party, was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday morning by a man who approached him asking for his autograph, the police said.

       Mr. Lee, 59, the leader of the liberal Democratic Party, was making his way through a crowd in the port city of Busan when he was attacked, according to the police and live-streamed TV footage of the incident. He had just finished taking questions from journalists after touring the site of a planned airport.

       The police in Busan said the assailant, a 66-year-old man, had been detained and was under investigation for a possible charge of attempted murder. But they did not provide details about Mr. Lee’s condition or the motives of the attacker, who they said had used a knife with a five-inch blade.

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       Choe Sang-Hun is the lead reporter for The Times in Seoul, covering South and North Korea. More about Choe Sang-Hun

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