Prosecutors arrested and indicted a man in his 60s on the 29th on suspicion of attacking Lee Jae-myeong, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, with a weapon.

The Busan District Prosecutors' Office special investigation team announced in a briefing on the results of the investigation this afternoon that Mr. Kim (67) was arrested and indicted on charges of attempted murder and violation of the Public Official Election Act. Prosecutors determined that Mr. Kim's crime was an act intended to influence the general election, so they also charged him with violating the Public Official Election Act. The prosecution also indicted Mr. A (75), an acquaintance who helped Mr. Kim commit the crime, without detention on the same day on charges of aiding and abetting attempted murder and violating the Public Official Election Act.

The prosecution investigated 114 people, including Mr. Kim's relatives, the driver involved in moving to the location of the crime, and people who were in frequent contact with him. In addition, through analysis of account transaction details, etc., it was confirmed that there were no additional accomplices or masterminds other than Mr. A. During the investigation, the prosecution used a lie detector test on Mr. Kim, and reported that all of Mr. Kim's answers saying that there was no force behind it were 'truth' responses.

According to the prosecution's integrated psychological analysis, Mr. Kim committed the crime with the intention of 'preventing pro-North Korea forces led by Representative Lee from being nominated and securing a majority of seats in the general election in April, and based on this, preventing Representative Lee from becoming the next president.' was found to have committed. Mr. Kim, a licensed real estate agent, is known to have been experiencing financial difficulties since 2019 due to poor sales, stock investment losses, and office rent arrears. It is also reported that he has not been staying with his family since 2005 and has been living alone.

The prosecution analyzed that during this process, Mr. Kim may have fallen into extreme political tendencies. An expert consulted by the prosecution said of Mr. Kim, “He has a clear sense of anger and victim mentality, is blindly absorbed in political ideology and ideology, and devotes himself to fantasy thinking activities for a long time, resulting in the expression of accumulated antipathy toward CEO Lee.” It is reported that it has been evaluated.

The prosecution viewed this crime as a thoroughly planned crime. The prosecution revealed that Mr. Kim purchased a mountaineering knife online in April of last year, and then showed meticulousness by sharpening the knife and modifying its shape over a long period of time. Additionally, it was revealed that Mr. Kim had followed CEO Lee on a schedule four times before committing this crime, looking for opportunities to commit the crime.

A prosecution official said, “This case is a crime of political terrorism that attempted to kill a politician using a weapon under a long-term plan, and is a crime that interferes with freedom of elections through violence.” He added, “It has the potential to undermine democracy by curtailing political activities and spread copycat crimes.” “For this reason, the special investigation team will be directly responsible for maintaining the indictment and will ensure that severe punishment is meted out.”