Seoul, Jan 2 (IANS): South Korean Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed during a visit to the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday and taken to a hospital while conscious.

Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, was attacked on the left side of his neck by an unidentified man at 10.27 a.m. (local time) during a question and answer session with reporters after touring the construction site of a new airport on Busan's Gadeok Island, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Lee was transferred to Pusan National University Hospital approximately 20 minutes after the attack.

At the time of the transfer, he remained conscious, but the bleeding continued.

The male suspect, pretending to be one of the Opposition leader's supporters, approached the politician asking for an autograph and then carried out the attack with an unidentified weapon approximately 20-30 cm in length, according to eyewitnesses.

He was arrested at the scene.

President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed deep concern over Lee's safety, and ordered the police and relevant authorities to swiftly determine the facts and make every effort to quickly transport him to a hospital and provide him treatment, according to his spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung.

Yoon also stressed that such violence should never be tolerated under any circumstances, Kim said.