SEOUL: South Korean police started on Tuesday providing additional security for the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, after lawmakers had warned of a potential assassination plot targeting Lee Jae-myung, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
The move comes after the party had last week urged police to ramp up security for Lee after some of its lawmakers said they were tipped off about an assassination plot against him.
Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In January last year, Lee was stabbed in the neck by a man who lunged at him with a knife after asking for his autograph.
The man was sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to media reports.
Tensions have been running high in South Korea since President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly imposed martial law last December, triggering the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
His martial law imposition and its fallout have widened deep social rifts between conservatives and liberals and put pressure on institutions.
Yoon faces a criminal trial on charges of insurrection, while the Constitutional Court is also expected to rule in coming days on whether to uphold his impeachment and permanently strip him of his powers.
Police have been preparing for the risk of clashes, with both Yoon’s supporters and his opponents are due to hold large rallies when the court makes its decision.
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok repeated on Tuesday a call for citizens to accept and respect the court’s ruling.
Hundreds of Yoon supporters stormed a court building in January after his detention was extended, smashing windows and other items, an attack the acting leader called “unimaginable.”

MUMBAI: Authorities clamped indefinite curfew on parts of the Indian city of Nagpur after more than a dozen police officers were hurt in clashes sparked by a Hindu group’s demand for the removal of the tomb of a 17th-century Mughal ruler, police said on Tuesday.
Monday’s violence in the central Indian city damaged many vehicles and injured several people, among them at least 15 police personnel, one of whom was in serious condition, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, where the city is located, criticized the violence in a video message, calling for every effort to maintain law and order.
“I have told the police commissioner to take whatever strict steps are necessary,” Fadnavis added.
Police said in a statement that members of the group, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), burnt an effigy of the Emperor Aurangzeb and his tomb as they chanted slogans demanding its removal from the nearby city of Aurangabad.
The police officer said the situation escalated after several members of Muslim groups marched near a police station and threw stones at police.
The attackers, wearing masks to hide their faces, carried sharp weapons and bottles, a resident of the area told the ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.
The VHP denied accusations of engaging in any violence. It wants the tomb to be replaced with a memorial for rulers from the local Maratha community, its general secretary, Milind Parande, said in a video message.
Nagpur is also the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The VHP belongs to the same family of organizations.
Modi’s critics have often accused him of discriminating against Muslims, and failing to act against those targeting them. He and his government have denied the accusations.