South Korean opposition leader injured in stabbing

South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was recovering in intensive care after he was stabbed in the neck, his party said.

"Damage to the internal jugular vein was confirmed," Kwon Chil-seung of the Democratic Party said in Seoul after Mr Lee underwent surgery.

Mr Lee "is currently admitted to the intensive care unit and is recovering".

Mr Lee was walking in a crowd of journalists after visiting the site of a new airport in Busan, when a man in front of him lunged and struck him in the neck, footage on South Korean television channels showed.

The 59-year-old was seen collapsing to the ground as people rushed to aid him.

One man was seen pressing a handkerchief on Mr Lee's neck.

He was "walking to his car while talking to reporters when the attacker asked for his autograph before striking him in the neck with what looked like a knife", a witness told local broadcaster YTN.

Emergency responders were seen carrying Mr Lee into an ambulance. He was later taken to hospital on a helicopter, according to the Yonhap news agency.

The agency said he was bleeding but conscious as he was transported from the scene.

Police in Busan said Mr Lee suffered a "one-centimetre laceration on his neck", according to South Korean news outlet Chosun Ilbo.

TV footage showed police officials wrestling the attacker to the ground.

He was seen wearing a hat with Mr Lee's name on it. Yonhap said the suspect has been arrested.

Chief of the Democratic Party, Mr Lee lost to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in a tight presidential race in 2022.

Mr Yoon expressed "deep concern over the safety of Mr Lee upon hearing of the attack," his spokeswoman Kim Soo-kyung said.

"Yoon emphasised our society should never tolerate this kind of act of violence under any circumstances," she added.

A former child factory worker who suffered an industrial accident as a teenage school drop-out, Mr Lee rose to political prominence partly by emphasising his rags-to-riches tale.

Recent polls have indicated that Mr Lee remains a strong contender for president.

But his bid for the top office has been overshadowed by a series of scandals.

Mr 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 US$8 million to North Korea.

Mr Lee is also accused of breaching his duties, allegedly resulting in a loss of 20 billion won for a company owned by Seongnam city during his term as its mayor.