SEOUL: President Lee Jae Myung said Saturday (May 9) he survived a 2024 knife attack thanks to people's support and will devote himself wholly to the country, a day after the state civil rights commission overturned an earlier decision with regard to his airlift to Seoul from Busan at the time of the attack.
Lee was stabbed in the neck by a 67-year-old man posing as a supporter during a visit to the southeastern city of Busan on Jan 2, 2024, and was transported by helicopter to Seoul National University Hospital from Pusan National University Hospital for surgery.
At the time, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission determined the airlift as preferential treatment not allowed for ordinary people, and said that the medical staff and rescue workers involved in the decision deserve disciplinary measures for violating their code of conduct.
But the commission overturned the decision Friday, saying the airlift was carried out within their scope of authority.
On Saturday, Lee posted a message on social platform X with a link to a news report on the commission's decision, saying that people saved him from the terrorist murder attempt, a "judicial murder through fabricated indictments by the prosecution" and an "honour killing using manipulated media."
"My life now belongs entirely to the people," Lee said. "What I have to do is to build a country solely for the people and create a power that operates solely for the people.... My fellow citizens. I am truly grateful. Even if my body breaks down, to the very last moment, I will devote my heart and all my strength to the people."
At the time of the knife attack, Lee was the leader of the then main opposition Democratic Party and ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol was in office.
The commission has found in a recent internal probe that the then deputy chief of the commission exercised undue influence in the commission's decision that the airlift breached the code of conduct. - Yonhap
