The leader of South Korea’s political opposition has been stabbed at a news conference in the southern port city of Busan.

Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost the presidential elections in 2022, was stabbed on the left side of his neck on Tuesday morning.

The attacker who appeared to be a man in his 50s or 60s, reportedly approached Mr Lee asking for an autograph, before suddenly lunging forward to stab him.

Photographs after the incident show Mr Lee lying on the ground with his eyes closed as someone presses a handkerchief to the side of his neck.

Since then he has been indicted on corruption and breach of trust charges, with prosecutors accusing him of allowing private developers to profit illegally from a property project while he was mayor of Seongnam, a city of 1 million people to the south of Seoul.

In 2006, conservative party leader Park Geun-hye, who later became president, was attacked with a knife which left a scar on her face.

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