SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A man who stabbed South Korea’s opposition leader in the neck earlier this year was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday, court officials said.
The knife-wielding man attacked Lee Jae-myung, head of the liberal Democratic Party, South Korea’s biggest political party, in January after approaching him asking for his autograph at an event in the southeastern city of Busan. After being detained by police, he told investigators that he wanted to kill Lee to prevent him from becoming South Korea’s president.
15 years for stabbing someone in the neck, regardless of their job, seems fair, imo. Let’s compare some other cases:
- USA: Christian Soto faces multiple life sentences for a stabbing spree in Rockford, Illinois, in March 2024 (Northern Public Radio, The Independent).
- UK: Joshua Jacques got a life sentence for killing four people in the 2022 Bermondsey stabbing (Wikipedia).
- Canada: Alek Minassian received life imprisonment for the 2018 Toronto van attack, comparable to severe stabbing cases (BBC).
- Australia: Mert Ney was sentenced to 44 years for his 2019 Sydney stabbing rampage (ABC News).
- Germany: Ali Bashar got a life sentence for murder and assault in Wiesbaden in 2018 (DW).
How are any of these comparable? Multiple people were killed/injured from those attacks, so I’m confused by your comment. What point are you trying to make?