Seoul, Jan 10, (dpa/GNA) – The man who stabbed and injured South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae Myung last week, appears to have been driven by political motives, police said on Wednesday.
According to his own statements, the attacker wanted to prevent the centre-left politician from becoming president of the country, police in the south-eastern coastal city of Busan told journalists.
Police said the man, appears to have had no accomplices in the preparation of the attack.
The 59-year-old chairman of the Democratic Party was stabbed in the neck, during a public appearance in Busan on January 2.
The perpetrator was detained at the scene.
South Korean broadcasters reported the police handed the case over to the public prosecutor’s office on Wednesday. The suspect is facing charges of attempted murder.
Lee was able to leave a hospital in Seoul on Wednesday, where he had undergone surgery. He was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying he hoped the act of violence would help end the “war-like politics in South Korea.”
The stabbing took place, three months before parliamentary elections in South Korea.
According to the police, the perpetrator also wanted to prevent Lee from nominating his confidants as candidates for the elections. Lee himself was a candidate in the presidential election two years ago. He narrowly lost to the current conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol.
GNA