Hearing adjourned for US amb. attacker

By Lee Kyung-min

A court hearing for Kim Ki-jong, who attacked U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert in March, has been adjourned due to disturbances caused by the defendant.

Seoul Central District Court said Tuesday that Kim denounced the proceedings for accepting a request from the prosecution to add a charge of violating the National Security Law which bans openly praising or assisting North Korea.

The prosecution initially charged him with attempted murder, assaulting a foreign envoy, and obstruction of business, but added the latest charge during a hearing on July 22.

Kim was indicted in April for slashing Lippert's face and hand with a 25-centimeter knife at a breakfast seminar in central Seoul on March 5.

The accused said he will not accept the additional charge because the prosecution failed to inform him prior to the proceedings starting.

“It was only on July 29 that I was notified by my lawyer, more than a week after the prosecution filed for a charge amendment. I did not have time to prepare for the newly added charge,” Kim said.

Kim argues that he did not violate the National Security Law because he has never contacted the North, saying that the attack was an accident.

The judge ordered Kim to stop disturbing the hearing multiple times and finally called for an adjournment as Kim continued to obstruct the hearing by protesting the charges.

The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 20 and the court is scheduled to deliver its verdict in mid-September.