By Kim Se-jeong
Staff reporter

Japanese Ambassador Toshinori Shigeie managed to avoid a piece of cement thrown at him during a speech in Seoul Wednesday, but his interpreter was injured.

Mayumi Horie, third secretary of the Japanese Embassy, was hurt and didn't come in today, one of the Korean staff members at the embassy told The Korea Times over the phone Thursday. She sustained light injuries.

Police sought an arrest warrant for the offender, Kim Ki-jong.

The incident occurred when Shigeie was giving a speech during the Korea-Japan Future Forum held at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul.

According to YTN, a 24-hour cable news channel, Kim, a member of an advocacy group for Dokdo Islets in the East Sea, walked up to the ambassador and threw a piece of cement at him.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan phoned Wednesday night to apologize to the ambassador, a ministry source said.

The embassy did not have any initial reaction.

"As of now, we are now trying to gather all the information possible to learn what really happened," Shinichi Yano of the Japanese public information and cultural center told The Korea Times.

In response, the authorities tightened security near the embassy.