Prosecution Indicts and Detains ‘Lee Jae-myung Assailant’ on Attempted Murder and Public Official Election Act Violations

Since April Last Year, Crime Planned...Long-Term Sharpening of Hiking Knife and Whetstone
Executed After 4 Failed Attempts...70s Male Accomplice Indicted Without Detention

A man in his 60s accused of attempting to assassinate Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has been brought to trial.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is speaking as he is discharged from Seoul National University Hospital on the 10th, eight days after a stabbing attack. Lee will continue treatment at home for the time being after being discharged. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The Busan District Prosecutors' Office Special Investigation Team (led by Chief Prosecutor Park Sang-jin) on the 29th indicted Mr. A (66) on charges of attempted murder and violation of the Public Official Election Act, and indicted Mr. B (75), who assisted Mr. A’s crime, without detention on charges of aiding attempted murder and violating the Public Official Election Act.

According to the prosecution, Mr. A, who lives in Asan, Chungnam and operates a real estate agency, is accused of attempting to murder Lee by stabbing the left side of Lee’s neck with a knife on the 2nd of this month at Daehang Observatory in Gangseo-gu, Busan, in order to prevent a specific faction from winning a parliamentary seat through Lee’s exercise of nomination rights, and simultaneously committing violence against Lee, who was a candidate in the election.

It was revealed that Mr. A decided in April last year that “stabbing the neck with a knife” was the most effective method to kill Lee and searched for and purchased a knife to use in the crime. Mr. A showed meticulousness by sharpening both edges of a hiking knife to a pointed tip over a long period using a whetstone and knife sharpener to enhance its lethality, while removing the handle and wrapping it with white tape to modify and alter it.

The prosecution judged that Mr. A had prepared over a long period to kill Lee. Mr. A continuously practiced stabbing with the knife to ensure a certain killing, practicing stabbing motions and stabbing at books and wooden boards, and from around September last year, he even practiced stabbing at a tree stump about neck height in a flower bed near his office, where he had fixed a scarf around the stump.

Additionally, Mr. A repeatedly practiced ambushing Lee by naturally greeting him and then suddenly stabbing the neck area while raising his head, assuming a situation where he would meet Lee. Furthermore, Mr. A regularly checked Lee’s schedule on the Democratic Party’s website and devised a meticulous crime plan considering the weather on the relevant dates and Lee’s specific movements.

The prosecution identified that Mr. A attempted his first crime in June last year at the “Rally Against Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Contaminated Water” attended by Lee in Seomyeon, Busan. However, Mr. A covered the modified knife with a placard and waited for an opportunity but was unable to approach Lee due to security and abandoned the attempt. He then tried to approach Lee once in July last year and twice in December last year to attempt the crime but failed.

The prosecution conducted witness investigations of a total of 114 people, including Mr. A’s family, former colleagues, neighbors, acquaintances, and drivers involved in moving the crime scene, but confirmed that there were no additional accomplices or masterminds other than the accomplice Mr. B.

Mr. B is accused of hearing from Mr. A from May to December last year that “he intended to eliminate Lee,” receiving seven envelopes containing memos titled “Last Words” written by Mr. A to justify the crime, and asked to deliver them to media outlets. After learning of Mr. A’s crime through news reports, Mr. B sent two of the envelopes to Mr. A’s family and others while keeping the rest.

The prosecution stated that the memos left by Mr. A harshly criticized pro-North Korean forces and contained resolutions and reasons for the crime, such as “Lee will spread pro-North Korean forces in the National Assembly through nominations, so I will risk my life to eliminate him.” Accordingly, the prosecution plans to submit these as key evidence in court during the trial process.