South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed in the neck, a party lawmaker said Wednesday, as police were granted a warrant to search his assailant's property.

Lee was surrounded by journalists in southern Busan city on Tuesday when a man pretending to be a supporter pushed through a crowd and lunged at him, stabbing him on the left side of his neck with a knife.

Lee, who suffered a wound to his jugular vein, was first taken to a hospital in Busan, then flown to Seoul where he underwent a two-hour surgery.