South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed by a man in January this year. Notably, the man who stabbed Lee Jae-myung was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday, according to the media reports, The knife-wielding man attacked Lee, who is the head of the Democratic Party, after asking him for his autograph at an event in the southeastern city of Busan.
Lee was stabbed in the neck. On Friday, the Busan District Court said the man was handed the prison term after being found guilty of an attempted murder and a violation of an election law.
‘Both the man and prosecutors have one week to appeal’, said the court. The attack happened just months before South Korea’s parliamentary election in April, in which the Democratic Party and other opposition parties won a victory against President Yoon Suk Yeol’s People Power Party.
After being arrested by police, the man told investigators that he wanted to kill Lee to prevent him from becoming the country’s president. The attacker’s identity is not yet known but the police earlier said that he was aged 67.
During police questioning, the attacker also said he was unhappy with what he thought was a lack of progress in authorities’ investigations of Lee over various corruption allegations.
The court verdict called the attack a grave challenge to the country’s election systems and an act that significantly destroys social consensus and confidence on the basic liberal democratic principles.
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