cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17283165
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A man who stabbed South Korea’s opposition leader in the neck earlier this year was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday, court officials said.
The knife-wielding man attacked Lee Jae-myung, head of the liberal Democratic Party, South Korea’s biggest political party, in January after approaching him asking for his autograph at an event in the southeastern city of Busan. After being detained by police, he told investigators that he wanted to kill Lee to prevent him from becoming South Korea’s president.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Busan District Court said the man was handed the prison term after being found guilty for an attempted murder and a violation of an election law.
A court verdict called the attack “a grave challenge” to the country’s election systems and an act that “significantly destroys social consensus and confidence on the basic liberal democratic principles,” according to Yonhap news agency.
It cited the verdict as saying the attacker had long loathed Lee because of differences of political opinions, practiced stabbing his neck in advance and followed him on five public events.
While leaving a Seoul hospital later in January, Lee expressed hopes for an end to “politics of hatred” in South Korea.
During police questioning, the attacker said he was unhappy with what he thought was a lack of progress in authorities’ investigations of Lee over various corruption allegations.
Their closely fought race and post-election political bickering have intensified South Korea’s already-toxic conservative-liberal divide.
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