Stabbing attack leaves Skorean opposition leader hospitalized
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s tough-speaking liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck Tuesday by an unidentified knife-wielding man who attempted to kill the politician during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan, police said.
Lee, 59, head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was airlifted to a Seoul hospital after receiving emergency treatment in Busan. Lee’s party later said he was recovering at an intensive care unit at the Seoul National University Hospital after a two-hour operation.
The attack happened as Lee walked through a crowd of journalists and others after a tour of the proposed site of a new airport in Busan. The attacker approached Lee, saying he wanted his autograph, then stabbed him in the left side of his neck, senior Busan police Officer Sohn Jae-han said in a briefing.
Sohn said Democratic Party officials quickly subdued the attacker before police officers detained him. He said 41 police officers had been deployed to the area for crowd control and traffic management.
TV footage showed Lee, his eyes closed, lying on the ground as a person pressed a handkerchief to his neck. A witness, Jin Jeong-hwa, told YTN television that Lee had bled a lot.
Videos circulated on social media showed the suspect, wearing a paper crown reading “I’m Lee Jae-myung,” in a possible attempt to pose as a supporter.
Sohn said the suspect, about 67, told investigators that he bought the 7-inch knife online. He said police are investigating the motive for the attack.
Police are expected to request that the suspect be formally arrested for alleged attempted murder because he told investigators he intended to kill Lee.
Lee’s Democratic Party called the incident “a terrorist attack on Lee and a serious threat to democracy.”
Menendez accusations: Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., introduced a member of the Qatari royal family and principal in a company with ties to the government of Qatar to a New Jersey businessman before the company invested millions of dollars in the businessman’s real estate project, a rewritten indictment alleged Tuesday.
The latest version of the indictment against the Democrat in Manhattan federal court did not identify the member of the Qatari royal family, but it said the individual was a principal of the Qatari Investment Co.
The indictment said the Qatari investor then considered and negotiated a multimillion-dollar investment in the real estate project planned by Fred Daibes, one of three businessmen charged in the indictment along with the senator and his wife. All of them have pleaded not guilty.
Spy suspects in Turkey: Turkish authorities have detained 33 people suspected of spying for Israel, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Tuesday.
Authorities were still searching for 13 others believed to have links to Israel’s Mossad security service, the Anadolu Agency reported.
The suspects were detained in raids in Istanbul and seven other provinces for allegedly planning to carry out activities that included “reconnaissance” and “pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping” foreign nationals living in Turkey, the agency said.
The suspects were allegedly recruited to spy on Palestinians residing in
Turkey as well as Israeli activists opposed to their government, Anadolu said. Israeli officials allegedly contacted the suspects via social media, it said.
The report comes weeks after the head of Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, said in an audio recording that his organization is prepared to destroy Hamas “in every place,” including in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Israel of “serious consequences” if it pressed ahead with its threat to attack Hamas officials on Turkish soil.
Turkey and Israel had normalized ties in 2022 by reappointing ambassadors following years of tensions. But those ties quickly deteriorated after the Israelhamas war began.
Hong Kong trial: Prominent activist and publisher Jimmy Lai, 76, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three charges of sedition and collusion with foreign countries in a landmark national security trial in Hong Kong.
Lai was arrested during a crackdown on dissidents after huge pro-democracy protests in 2019. He faces possible life imprisonment if convicted under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. The trial is expected to last about 80 days without a jury.
The media tycoon who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper faces one count of conspiring to print seditious publications to incite hatred against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments, as well as two counts of collusion with foreign countries to call for sanctions and other hostile actions against China and Hong Kong.
His prosecution has drawn criticism from the United States and the United Kingdom.