President Lee's Stabbing to Be Reviewed for Terrorist Designation... Committee Deliberation Set for the 20th

Decision on Designation to Be Made Under Prime Minister's Leadership

It appears that the incident in which President Lee Jaemyung, then leader of the Democratic Party, was attacked with a weapon in 2024 will be officially designated as a "terrorist incident."

On January 14, the Prime Minister's Office announced that the 22nd National Counter-Terrorism Committee meeting will be held on January 20 to deliberate and decide whether to designate President Lee's attack as a terrorist act.

The Prime Minister's Office explained, "Prime Minister Kim decided to convene the National Counter-Terrorism Committee after reviewing the results of the reactivated joint counter-terrorism investigation team requested from the National Intelligence Service, as well as the legal review by the Ministry of Government Legislation regarding the designation of the incident as terrorism."

Prime Minister Kim Minseok is speaking at the Economic, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Council briefing held at the Korea Institute of Public Administration in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul on the 9th. Photo by Yonhap News

On January 2, 2024, while visiting Gadeokdo in Busan as party leader, President Lee was stabbed in the left side of his neck with a weapon wielded by a man in his 60s, identified as Mr. Kim. He received surgery and inpatient treatment, first at Pusan National University Hospital and then at Seoul National University Hospital.

After the incident, allegations emerged-mainly from the ruling party-that the National Intelligence Service under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and the Counter-Terrorism Center downplayed and distorted the incident by not designating it as terrorism and by destroying evidence at the scene. At the time, Park Sunwon, a Democratic Party lawmaker, revealed in September of last year that Kim Sangmin, a legal advisor at the National Intelligence Service, had written a report recommending that President Lee's attack not be classified as a terrorist act.

Meanwhile, the National Counter-Terrorism Committee is composed of the Prime Minister, who serves as chair, and 20 heads of related counter-terrorism agencies, based on Article 5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. At the upcoming meeting, the committee will also review this year’s domestic and international terrorism outlook and plans for national counter-terrorism activities.