Seoul, Jan 20 The South Korean government on Tuesday formally designated a 2024 knife attack on South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which occurred while he was serving as Opposition leader, as a terror case, the prime minister's office said.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok presided over a meeting of the National Counterterrorism Committee, which concluded that the stabbing of Lee, then leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), constitutes an act of terrorism under the Act on Counter-Terrorism.
The designation marks the first time a specific incident has been formally classified as terrorism since the law came into force in 2016, providing the legal basis for an additional investigation into the case.
Lee was stabbed in the neck by a 67-year-old man during a visit to the southeastern city of Busan on January 2, 2024, and subsequently underwent surgery and was hospitalized for treatment.
He was hospitalised at Pusan National University twenty minutes after the attack, Lee was subsequently transferred by helicopter to Seoul National University Hospital in a conscious state. The suspect was arrested at the scene and said his intentions were to assassinate Lee.
The DP has alleged that law enforcement authorities under the administration of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to destroy evidence at the scene in an effort to downplay the severity of the incident, Yonhap news agency reported.
Kim said the attack should never have occurred and pledged to review and strengthen the country's overall counterterrorism system to better protect public safety.
"As follow-up measures, (the government) will conduct an additional investigation into the case and beef up protection for major political figures during election campaigns to prevent similar incidents from recurring," the office said.
Following the designation, the National Investigation Headquarters under the National Police Agency said it has established a task force to investigate the case in a "transparent and objective" manner.
"We will do our best to uncover the truth now that the stabbing incident has been designated as a terror case," the headquarters said in a press notice.
According to officials, the task force will examine whether any parties colluded in connection with the case, why the incident was not initially classified as a terror attack, and whether evidence was destroyed during the early response by law enforcement authorities.
Political violence has occurred several times before in South Korea. In 2006, then-Grand National Party leader Park Geun-hye was attacked with a knife at an event, while her father Park Chung Hee was assassinated by his spy chief in 1979. In 2015, US Ambassador to South Korea Mark W Lippert survived a stabbing attack while attending a breakfast conference in Seoul. In 2022, then-Democratic Party of Korea leader Song Young-gil was attacked with a hammer.
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