South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung, who was attacked in Busan, lies on a stretcher as he arrives at Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul on Jan 2, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)

SEOUL — South Korean opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the southern city of Busan on Tuesday and was airlifted to Seoul after receiving emergency treatment, party and emergency officials said.

The suspect, wearing a paper crown with Lee's name on it, approached and asked for an autograph as Lee spoke among a throng of supporters and reporters. He then lunged forward and attacked him, video footage showed.

The man approached wearing a paper crown with Lee's name on it and asked for an autograph as Lee spoke among a throng of supporters and reporters, then lunged forward and attacked him, video footage showed

Lee, who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election, underwent surgery at Seoul National University Hospital and was in an intensive care unit recovering and conscious, party spokesman Kwon Chil-seung told reporters. He condemned the attack as "political terror".

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Kwon said earlier medical staff suspected damage to a jugular vein.

The attack by the assailant unfolded quickly while Lee was touring the site of a proposed airport.

Television footage and a video clip on the social media platform X showed the man lunging with his arm stretched out and stabbing Lee in the neck, the force of the attack pushing Lee back into the crowd behind him.

Lee grimaced and collapsed. News photographs showed Lee lying on the ground with his eyes closed and bleeding, and people pressing a handkerchief against his neck.

A Busan police official, Son Je-han, told a news briefing the assailant was born in 1957 and used an 18-cm knife bought online. He did not identify the suspect and said the motive was being investigated.

South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung, who was attacked in Busan, gets off a helicopter on a stretcher to be transported to Seoul National University Hospital, at a heliport in Seoul on Jan 2, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)

Police will seek a charge of attempted murder, media said.

Jin Jeong-hwa, a Lee supporter who was at the scene livestreaming the event, told Reuters there were more than two dozen police officers present.

The assailant was quickly subdued by party officials and police officers, the footage showed.

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South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung is attended to after being attacked in Busan on Jan 2, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)

President condemns attack

President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the attack.

"This type of violence must never be tolerated under any circumstances," his office quoted him as saying.

Lee is currently on trial for alleged bribery stemming from a development project when he was mayor of Seongnam near Seoul. Lee has denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations "fiction" and a "political conspiracy"

A former governor of Gyeonggi province, Lee narrowly lost to conservative Yoon, a former chief prosecutor, in the 2022 presidential election. He has led the main opposition party since August 2022.

Lee is currently on trial for alleged bribery stemming from a development project when he was mayor of Seongnam near Seoul. He has denied wrongdoing.

South Korea's next parliamentary elections are due in April.

South Korea has a history of political violence although it has tough restrictions on gun possession. There is police presence at major events but political leaders are not normally under close security protection.

Lee's predecessor, Song Young-gil, was attacked in 2022 by an assailant who swung a blunt object against his head, causing a laceration.

Then conservative opposition party leader Park Geun-hye, who later served as president, was slashed in the face at an event in 2006 and suffered a gash that required surgery.

Her father, Park Chung-hee, who was president for 16 years after taking power in a military coup, was shot and killed by his spy chief in 1979 at a drunken private dinner.

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung arrives to attend a hearing on his arrest warrant on corruption charges at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Sept 26, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)