Assailant says he stabbed opposition leader to prevent him from becoming president: police

The assailant who stabbed opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in the neck last week has told police that he carried out the knife attack to prevent Lee from becoming president, officials said Wednesday.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced the finding as it referred the 67-year-old suspect, identified only by his family name Kim, to the prosecution for further investigation and indictment on charges of attempted murder.

“The suspect has said to the effect that he decided to kill the victim so as to prevent him from becoming president and … taking a majority of seats in the upcoming general elections,” said Woo Chul-moon, head of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency.

Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, was narrowly defeated in the previous 2022 presidential election by President Yoon Suk Yeol, and is expected to run for president again.

Kim also held a grudge that Lee was not properly punished amid delays in his trials, Woo said.

Kim stabbed Lee in the neck with a camping knife while posing as an autograph-seeker during Lee’s visit to the southeastern port city of Busan on Jan. 2. He was immediately arrested at the scene.

The police concluded that Kim acted alone without an accomplice after examining his mobile phone and financial transaction history.

Ahead of the crime, Kim wrote an “excuse note” in which he also said that Lee’s trials are being delayed due to “pro-North Korean forces” in the judiciary and he tried to prevent Lee from becoming president and the country from falling in the hands of leftist forces, according to the police.

Kim “committed the extreme crime out of subjective political beliefs,” the police official said.

Earlier in the day, Kim appeared before reporters as he was transferred to a prosecutors’ office and said, “I caused concerns. I am sorry.”

The police had earlier decided not to disclose his political party affiliation, citing the Political Parties Act, which prohibits an investigative organization from revealing such information obtained during the investigation process.

The police also decided not to make his identity, such as his name and a portrait photo, public, saying that his case did not meet the legal conditions for disclosure. The current law permits the disclosure of the identity of suspects in violent crimes when there is sufficient evidence backing the crime, to meet public interest and people’s right to know.