According to a number of Korean media reports, at 10:27 a.m. local time on January 2, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea's largest opposition party, was attacked by a 50-year-old man on his way back from attending an event in Busan, South Korea.
According to reports and footage from the scene, the attacker was armed with a long knife of about 30 centimeters and directly attacked Lee Jae-myung in the neck. Lee Jae-myung then fell to the ground, and his shirt was stained red with blood. At around 10:34, the ambulance arrived belatedly. At 10:51, Lee Jae-myung was lifted into an ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital.
At present, the attacker has been arrested by the South Korean police. It is reported that in order to get close to Lee Jae-myung, the man squeezed into the crowd and shouted "give me an autograph". However, the South Korean police have not released the specific identity of the man.
The moment Lee Jae-myung was attacked
Regarding Lee Jae-myung's injury, "Overseas Network" quoted the latest reports from South Korean media that after the assassination, Lee Jae-myung was still conscious, but the wound on his neck was several centimeters deep, and the wound also caused massive bleeding.
The South Korean police's statement is that the wound on Lee Jae-myung's neck is only 1 centimeter, and it is initially inferred that it is a minor injury. However, judging from the currently known news, the credibility of the so-called "minor injury" statement is not high, after all, most Korean media released the news that Lee Jae-myung's state after falling to the ground was "bleeding nonstop".
And, according to the scene footage, the attacker was very close to Lee Jae-ming at that time, and he was holding a murder weapon of about 30 centimeters, and directly attacked Lee Jae-myung's neck. In this case, it is very unlikely that Lee Jae-myung is slightly injured.
Regarding the assassination of Lee Jae-myung, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol also responded quickly. South Korean President Yoon's office noted that Yoon Suk-yeol believes that the attack on Lee Jae-myung is unacceptable.
Lee Jae-myung fell to the ground after being attacked
Regardless of whether Lee Jae-myung was slightly injured this time, and what the reason for the assassination was. After all, these messages will have to wait for the South Korean side to respond before the specific information can be determined. Let's talk about what kind of impact Lee Jae-myung's assassination will have.
As the leader of South Korea's largest opposition party, and his reputation in South Korea is even slightly better than that of Yoon Suk-yeol, it can be said that Lee Jae-myung's influence in South Korea cannot be underestimated, and he can definitely be said to be one of the most important politicians in South Korea.
The attack on an important politician gives people the most intuitive feeling of the fierce and chaotic struggle within the country. Previously, the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe caused an uproar in the entire international community.
And, against the backdrop of Yoon Suk-yeol's declining domestic support, Lee Jae-myung's popularity has been increasing. Earlier, at a time when the Yoon Suk-yeol administration was silent about Japan's nuclear sewage discharge into the sea, Lee Jae-myung's move was a hunger strike.
Lee Jae-myung ranked first in the polls
And this time, Lee Jae-myung's original plan on the day of his assassination was to visit former South Korean President Moon Jae-in after attending the event. But for now, it seems clear that the plan has come to naught. But this shows that Lee Jae-myung has close ties with South Korean politicians.
And, just before Lee Jae-myung and him, the Korean media announced the MBC nominal survey, in which Lee Jae-myung led the Democratic Party with 27% of the support for the next presidential candidate.
And, when asked which party they would vote for, 35 percent of respondents chose the Communist Democratic Party and 34 percent chose Yoon's National Power Party. Judging from this data, Lee Jae-myung's support is also a point that cannot be ignored by the Yoon Suk-yeol government.
And after the attack, the Yoon Suk-yeol government may face big trouble. Regardless of whether the final investigation by the South Korean police suggests that the attack was politically related, speculation of partisan disputes is inevitable.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol
After all, Lee Jae-myung has repeatedly accused the Yoon Suk-yeol government of political persecution and using the procuratorate to crack down on political opponents. In the aftermath of the attack, the Communist Party of Korea (NDP) has been able to question the Yoon Suk-yeol government with reasonable grounds.
Against this backdrop, the pressure of public opinion on the Yoon Suk-yeol government is enormous. This may also directly affect the election of the next South Korean president, and it may also hit Yoon's domestic support hard.
From a more macro perspective, the attack on Lee Jae-myung may also affect the domestic political landscape in South Korea. To put it bluntly, Lee Jae-myung, as a political figure with important influence in South Korea, could not have been hastily attacked.
Previously, after the assassination of Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida used this incident to hype up for a long time, trying to seek political benefits for himself. And now that Lee Jae-myung has been assassinated, it cannot be ruled out that the incident will be mentioned many times in the South Korean political hierarchy in the future.
Korea
Generally speaking, there may be a lot of hidden secrets behind Lee Jae-myung's assassination, who is the main messenger, is there any driving force behind it, and what is its purpose? At present, there is not enough information to be known.
But what is certain is that this incident will be an event with long-term implications for the Yoon Suk-yeol government and for South Korea.