The person accused of stabbing South Korean opposition chief Lee Jae-myung within the neck instructed investigators he wished to kill him to forestall him from changing into the nation's president, police mentioned Wednesday.
Lee, 59, was launched from the hospital Wednesday after eight days of therapy, together with surgical procedure.
Lee, of the Democratic Celebration, expressed hope for an finish to the “politics of hate” as he left Seoul Nationwide College Hospital.
“Our revered and pricey residents, I'm sorry for inflicting you worries and I wish to thanks. Our individuals saved me,” mentioned Lee, as his supporters shouted his identify.
Lee mentioned he hoped the assault would function an opportunity “to finish the politics of hatred and the politics of confrontation and return to the politics of mutual respect and coexistence.”
Police mentioned they imagine the suspect, 67 years outdated and never publicly named, acted alone. He approached Lee asking for his autograph, then stabbed him within the neck, leaving him bleeding and slumping on the bottom, throughout an occasion on January 2 within the southeastern metropolis of Busan.
Throughout questioning, the suspect mentioned he had determined to kill Lee to forestall him from working for president of South Korea, Busan police chief Woo Cheol-Mun instructed a televised briefing. Woo mentioned the suspect mentioned he was not glad that he believed the authorities had not punished Lee for his corruption expenses.
Suspect tracked Lee for months: police
Woo mentioned the suspect left an eight-page notice exhibiting comparable motives for his assault. Woo mentioned the suspect purchased an out of doors knife final April and adopted Lee on 5 events since June.
“It’s analyzed that the suspect's subjective political perception led to the intense crime,” Woo mentioned, including that police had not discovered some other accomplices.
Throughout police questioning, the suspect didn’t have a protection lawyer, based on Busan police.
The police handed the suspect over to prosecutors, who will decide whether or not to cost him and ship him to trial. If he’s charged however doesn’t but have a lawyer, a court docket will appoint one. A Busan court docket earlier authorized an arrest warrant for him on alleged tried homicide.
“I'm sorry as a result of I prompted individuals worries,” the suspect mentioned in short feedback to reporters on the Busan prosecutor's workplace.
Requested by a reporter if he deliberate the assault alone, he mentioned: “Sure. How might you intend this with another person?”
Lee is a tough-talking liberal who narrowly misplaced the 2022 presidential election to President Yoon Suk Yeol. Their shut race and post-election political feuds have intensified South Korea's already poisonous conservative-liberal divide.
Lee is a vocal critic of Yoon's main insurance policies. It faces a collection of corruption allegations and associated trials and investigations. Lee has denied any authorized wrongdoing and accuses Yoon's authorities of pursuing politically motivated prosecutions.
Lee is likely one of the early favorites for the 2027 presidential election.
Yoon can’t run for one more time period, based on South Korean regulation.
Democratic Celebration officers confirmed that the suspect turned a member final yr. The ruling Individuals's Energy Celebration mentioned he isn’t at the moment a member, however media reviews mentioned the person was beforehand affiliated with the social gathering's predecessor.
