SEOUL: South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday while talking to reporters in the port city of Busan, Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee was walking in a crowd of journalists after visiting the site of a new airport when a man pushed through and lunged at him, striking him in the neck, footage on South Korean television channels showed.
Lee was seen collapsing to the ground as people rushed to aid him. One man was seen pressing a handkerchief on Lee's neck.
Police officials and bystanders were seen wrestling the attacker down. Yonhap said the assailant has been arrested.
Chief of the Democratic Party, Lee lost to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in a tight presidential race in 2022.
A former child factory worker who suffered an industrial accident as a teenage school drop-out, Lee rose to political stardom partly by playing up his rags-to-riches tale.
But his bid for the top office has been overshadowed by a string of scandals.
Lee avoided arrest in September when a court dismissed a request from the prosecution for him to be taken into custody pending trial on various corruption charges.
He still faces trial on charges of bribery in connection with a firm that is suspected of illicitly transferring $8 million to North Korea.
Lee is also accused of breaching his duties, which allegedly resulted in a loss of 20 billion won (US$15 million) for a company owned by Seongnam city during his term as its mayor.--AFP