South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday requested police protection for its leader Lee Jae-myung after uncovering an alleged plot to kill him, forcing the politician to skip a scheduled rally protesting against suspended president Yoon Suk-yeol.
A party spokeswoman said the group was tipped-off about the plan involving retired secret agents scheming to eliminate Lee using Russian-made contraband guns.
“Many lawmakers, including the party’s leadership, received text messages claiming that there is a plan to smuggle in Russian pistols to assassinate Lee Jae-myung,” Hwang Jung-ah told reporters.
Hwang said the information came from a former military intelligence officer and advised Lee to avoid public appearances until the threat diminishes.
She added that the opposition chief would not take part in a march set for later in the day.
Acting police chief Lee Ho-young told the National Assembly the force would conduct a “thorough investigation” due to “quite a lot of online threats” against the leaders of both the ruling People Power Party and the opposition, Yonhap reported.