Lee Jae-myung Attack Sparks Political Reflection: "Hate Politics Must Stop"

Hong Joon-pyo "A Tragedy Born from Extreme Factional Confrontation"

On the 2nd, an incident occurred in which Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was attacked, prompting voices criticizing the extreme factional conflicts in the political sphere.

Hong Joon-pyo, mayor of Daegu, posted on his social media (SNS) on the same day, pointing out the attack on Lee as "a tragedy born from politics of hatred, monopolization, and extreme factional confrontation."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a greeting speech at the New Year's meeting held at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 1st.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Mayor Hong stated, "From the very first day of the new year, we have entered an era of politics of hatred where Leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed and injured. This incident, occurring just as factional confrontations are beginning ahead of the general election, seems like a signal darkening the country's future," adding, "It reminds me of the case when Leader Park Geun-hye was attacked before the local elections in May 2006."

He continued, "To overcome the backwardness of our politics and advance as a developed nation, we must pursue politics of integration?North-South integration, East-West integration, and left-right integration. The gladiator politics where parties hate and kill each other must end now," and concluded by wishing "a speedy recovery for Leader Lee Jae-myung."

Within the Democratic Party of Korea, criticism was also directed at the presidential office. Former senior deputy spokesperson Lee Kyung said on SNS that "Leader Lee Jae-myung was attacked in the neck area during his visit to Busan," and questioned, "Isn't this happening because the president neglects people's livelihood and maximizes public division by talking about cartels and ideology?"

On the same day, while carrying out his local visit schedule in Busan, Leader Lee was attacked by a man. While answering questions from reporters, Lee was struck on the left side of his neck and collapsed. It was reported that he sustained a laceration about 1.5 cm long on his neck and damage to his jugular vein due to the attack. The man was arrested on the spot by security guards and police.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.