The leader of South Korea’s opposition party was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday by a man who lunged at him during a press conference, sending him reeling to the ground as aides tried to stem the blood.

Graphic video shows Lee Jae-myung, a left-leaning 2022 presidential candidate, being attacked during a visit to the southern port city of Busan. He is conscious and has been transported to a local university hospital, a party official and a fire department official told Reuters.

The attacker was immediately wrestled to the ground and arrested, but is yet to be named and no motive has been given.

He appeared to be aged in his 50s or 60s, and wearing a paper crown with Lee’s name on it. He approached Lee asking for an autograph, then suddenly lunged forward and attacked him, news reports said.

Lee, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, on Saturday rejected former party leader Lee Nak-yon’s call for his resignation.

The 59-year-old politician had been touring the construction site of a new airport on Gadeok Island, and was targeted during a question-and-answer session with reporters.

Lee was seen lying on the ground with his eyes closed and hands of other people around him pressing a handkerchief against the side of his neck.

Lee has been taken to hospital.

Lee, a human rights lawyer, entered politics in 2005 and in 2010 became the mayor of Seongnam, the 10th-largest city in the country. 

While mayor, he became involved in a development project, and is currently on trial for alleged bribery in the city. Lee has denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations ‘fiction’ and a ‘political conspiracy.’ 

He resigned in 2018 for a successful run for governor of Gyeonggi province – the most populous in the country, which encompasses the capital, Seoul. Seoul is administratively separately, however.

More than half of South Korea’s population live in Gyeonggi.

Lee ran for the presidency in 2022, and narrowly lost to to Yoon Suk-yeol, the current president.

He rose to prominence with an aggressive pandemic response, a populist economic agenda, and by touting an outsider image. 

Lee campaigned on a pledge of introducing a universal basic income of 1 million won ($800) per year to every individual, paid for through taxes on carbon emissions and a new, nationwide land ownership tax, under which homeowners would pay taxes on the land their homes occupy.

He favored warmer relations with North Korea, saying on the campaign trail that he would send envoys to the U.S. and Pyongyang to try and jumpstart diplomacy.

He said he wanted a roadmap of conditional sanctions relief and phased simultaneous action by North Korea, with a snapback mechanism under which sanctions would be restored if North Korea fails to follow through on denuclearization steps. 

Lee also wanted warmer relations with Japan, a historic rival.

Gender issues emerged as a major motivating factor for many young male voters, who complain of reverse discrimination – despite surveys that find widespread misogyny and high wage gaps for women.

Lee opposed his rival’s call for to abolish the gender equality ministry, but said he supports dropping the word ‘women’ from its official Korean-language title.

President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the attack, saying it was unacceptable, his office said. 

He expressed deep concern for Lee and ordered that he be given the best possible care, so he can make a speedy recovery, his office said. 

South Korea has strict gun control, but does have a history of political violence involving other weapons.

Lee’s predecessor, Song Young-gil was attacked in 2022 at a public event by an assailant who swung a blunt object against his head, causing a laceration.

Then conservative opposition party leader Park Geun-hye, who later served as president, was attacked at an event in 2006 with a knife and suffered a gash on her faced that required surgery.