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SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap/Hankyoreh) -- South Korea's opposition party leader had to undergo emergency surgery after a man slashed her face with a knife while she was campaigning for a party candidate in Seoul Saturday evening.

Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the Grand National Party (GNP), was canvassing for Oh Se-hoon, GNP candidate for Seoul mayor, in Sinchon, Seoul. Ms. Park was walking onto a makeshift podium when she was approached by a man identified as Ji Chung-ho, 50. He appeared to want to shake hands with Ms. Park, but instead pulled out a utility knife and slashed the right side of her face.

"Ms. Park suffered an approximately 10-centimeter long cut to the face, from the ear to the jawline. It seems like a utility knife was used, given the shape of the cut," said Kim Hyeon-jong, a doctor on duty at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital. According to doctors, Ms. Park received about 60 stitches during a two-hour operation, and is in stable condition.

Hospital officials said the opposition leader's life was "in no way in danger," adding that a complete recovery would take weeks, if not months, as the cut caused extensive damage to her jaw muscles. The officials refused to clarify how deep Ms. Park's wound was, but earlier reports put it at 1 cm to 3 cm deep.

Before entering the operating room, Ms. Park asked party leaders and officials not to be affected by the incident and to continue with their campaigning, according to Yu Jeong-bok, her chief secretary.

Another man, Park Jong-ryeol, 52, was placed in custody along with Mr. Ji after he caused a near-simultaneous disturbance, jumping onto the platform after Ms. Park was attacked and throwing a microphone.

The two suspects were at first believed to be accomplices, but police later said they seem to have no connection, though they were still looking into the possibility. "Mr. Park alleges that he has nothing to do with the attack, saying that he just went out of control after drinking heavily with friends in the neighborhood," police said.

Police said, however, that they have not ruled out the possibility of others being involved in the attack. A third suspect was thought to have fled the scene, according to police and party officials at the time of the incident.

Mr. Ji and Mr. Park initially refused to cooperate with the investigation while in custody, shouting the slogans, "Let’s save democracy! Long live the Republic of Korea!" police said. Both Mr. Park and Mr. Ji were earlier said to be drunk, but tests later showed that only the former man was intoxicated.

Han Jin-ho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said Mr. Park has donated 2,000 won (about 2 USD) every month to the ruling Uri Party since early 2004. The governing party confirmed that Mr. Park is a member of its Seoul chapter, and said it has decided to revoke his membership.

Park Geun-hye is the oldest daughter of former president Park Chung Hee. The GNP leader is often criticized for allegedly capitalizing, for political gains, on her link to her father's dictatorial government, which lasted nearly 19 years following a 1960 military coup. The opposition leader is one of the leading possible candidates for the next presidential election in 2007.

Suspect served jail time for prior incidents

According to police records, Mr. Ji served a total of 14 years and 4 months behind bars on a variety of charges, including arson and assault. Mr. Ji, who grew up in a seedy Incheon red-light district, still lives there, police said, along with his mother, who suffers from dementia.

Mr. Ji’s acquaintances said that while he was in jail, he sent several letters to the GNP (then the New Korea Party), requesting help due to his predicament.

"Mr. Ji maintains that he committed the act out of anger, because he said he had to serve 15 years in jail without doing anything wrong," said Han Jin-ho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Though an investigation is still underway, police suspect that Mr. Ji committed the attack to voice his complaints against society and political leadership.

Mr. Ji's antipathy toward politicians is nothing new. Last December he assaulted a group of GNP officials, who were in public campaigning against a government bill. The party did not bring charges against him.

Mr. Ji’s expectations and hope for the GNP, it seems, unfolded into hatred. Police said the act was premeditated, the knife used in the attack prepared for that purpose. Mr. Ji is also confirmed to have called a GNP office to make sure that Ms. Park would be in public campaigning that day.

Reactions on all sides

"It appears to be election terror," Rep. Lee Ke-jin, spokesman of the GNP, said in a telephone call with Yonhap News Agency.

The government should take responsibility for the lack of security, another high profile GNP official said. The GNP held an emergency meeting to discuss how to respond to the incident.

The office of President Roh Moo-hyun immediately criticized Saturday's assault on opposition leader Park as an "unpardonable incident" and called for a thorough investigation.

"Any form of election violence should not be tolerated. The incident has to be thoroughly investigated," said Jung Tae-ho, Blue House spokesman.

Rep. Chung Dong-young, chairman of the ruling Uri Party, said that the assault was an "unforgivable act" and that it should be dealt with sternly. "It is very shocking. I am really worried about her health," Chung said.

"It is a grave crime that spoils the peaceful atmosphere of election campaign," said Uri Party spokesman Woo Sang-ho, urging the law enforcement authorities to carry out a thorough investigation.

Controversy over investigation

Authorities have made an effort to handle the investigation at the highest level of authority. Lee Taek-soon, head of the National Police Agency, personally oversaw the questioning of the suspects, police officials said. Prosecutor-general Choung Sang-myoung then announced that his office would launch a full-scale investigation into the incident. "Prosecutor Choung was briefed on the incident and instructed a thorough investigation," a senior prosecutor said.

However, some say the government’s decision to launch a joint investigation by the prosecution and police follows GNP claims that the police were trying to belittle, if not distort, the incident.

"The police are attempting to make it look like an accidental act by drunkards," GNP floor leader Lee Jae-oh said at a party meeting, referring to the initial announcement by police that seemed to state that both men were inebriated at the time of the attack. Police have since retracted the statement, saying only Mr. Park was intoxicated.

Lee Q-taek, a standing committee member of the party, called on the national police commissioner general, Lee Taek-soon, to step down in order to take responsibility for the earlier police announcement. The head of the Seoul police said the announcement of both suspects being drunk merely indicated that at least one of them was under the influence, without specifying who.

The national police chief has not made any direct response to the calls for his resignation.