US ambassador attacked by radical
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U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert was attacked by a xenophobic activist during a breakfast seminar in downtown Seoul, Thursday. Lippert sustained a gash to his right cheek and cuts to his hand, and required over 80 stitches to his face and emergency surgery on his wrist and fingers. The Yonsei University Severance Hospital medical team said that he has to recuperate in hospital for three to four days but is in a stable condition. The photos above, clockwise from left, show an 11-centimeter long, 3-centimeter deep knife wound to Lippert’s face right after the attack; the envoy getting into a car to head for hospital; Kim Ki-jong, the suspect, being overpowered; Kim shouting slogans in an ambulance where he was strapped down; and the blood stained table where Lippert sat. The left photo is courtesy of the Munhwa Ilbo and the rest were provided by Yonhap News.
Lippert gets over 80 stitches for facial wound
By Jung Min-ho
U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert sustained serious injuries to his face and hand during an attack by a knife-wielding anti-U.S. activist in downtown Seoul, Thursday morning.
Kim Ki-jong, 55, the suspect, attacked the ambassador with a 25-centimeter long knife, slashing his right cheek and stabbing his left hand. Lippert was preparing to give a lecture on the two Koreas during a breakfast forum inside the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.
Police apprehended the suspect on the spot. They said that the U.S. Embassy had not requested a security detail to escort the ambassador.
The incident was the first time that a U.S. ambassador has been attacked here.
Yonsei University Severance Hospital, which operated on Lippert, said in a briefing that he will have to recuperate for three to four days in hospital after undergoing surgery for two-and-a-half hours.
Lippert, bleeding, was rushed to the nearby Gangbuk Samsung Hospital for emergency treatment and then moved to the Severance Hospital in Sinchon, western Seoul.
As he entered the hospital, Lippert told reporters he was fine. “I’m okay. I’m okay. Don’t worry,” he said.
After the surgery, the ambassador posted on his Twitter that he was “doing well and in good spirits.” “(I) will be back ASAP to advance US-ROK alliance!” he said.
He also wrote a closing comment in Korean, “Let’s go together.”
The hospital said that Lippert sustained cuts to five areas, including an 11-centimeter-long, 3-centimeter-deep gash extending from his right cheek to the chin. The envoy was also wounded on his left arm and fingers. He had over 80 stitches.
“Fortunately, there was no damage to Lippert’s key organs. However, we found damage to the nerves in his left little finger,” Jung Nam-shik, the hospital head, said in a media briefing. “He needs to remain hospitalized for three to four days.”
President Park Geun-hye strongly condemned the knife attack, saying it was tantamount to an attack against the alliance between South Korea and the United States.
“This kind of act cannot be tolerated,” said Park, who is visiting the UAE as part of a four-nation visit to Middle East.
She later called Lippert to offer consolation.
Park told him that she understands how he must feel because she had a similar experience, referring to a 2006 attack on her by a man during an election campaign, Cheong Wa Dae said. She sustained an 11-centimeter wound on her face and had 60 stitches.
Following the attack, Government Policy Coordination Minister Choo Kyung-ho held an emergency meeting with vice ministers, while police beefed up security around U.S.-related facilities and other foreign embassies in the country.
Witnesses said that Kim pushed Lippert to the ground and repeatedly attacked him with the knife after the envoy had sat down for breakfast ahead of the lecture organized by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC).
The organization’s chief Hong Sa-deok, a former lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party, resigned from the post taking responsibility for the incident.
Rep. Chang Yoon-seok from the ruling Saenuri Party, who sat at the same table with Lippert, wrestled the suspect to the ground and held him with other guests at the venue until police came, witnesses said.
Police said the suspect shouted his opposition to the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises that started Monday.
The annual drills between South Korea and the United States, which will continue until next month, are designed to deter threats from North Korea.
When he was detained, Kim shouted, “I’m the head of Our Land (Dokdo Islands Protectors). I made handouts to protest against the military exercises.”
Speaking to reporters, Kim claimed the military drills prevent family members, separated by the Korean War being reunited. Kim said he planned the attack alone for 10 days.
Police are questioning him to determine the exact motive of the attack and whether he planned it alone as he claims.
Kim is the head of a liberal organization, Our Land Dokdo Islands Protectors, which protests against Japan’s territorial claims over the South Korea’s easternmost islets.
According to the Ministry of Unification, with its approval, Kim visited North Korea eight times from 2006 to 2007 in a program to plant trees in Gaeseong.
This is the second assault that Kim has carried out against a foreign ambassador here. In July 2010, he was given a three year suspended prison term for throwing pieces of concrete at then-Japanese envoy to Seoul Toshinori Shigeie.
U.S. President Barack Obama called Lippert after the attack to express his thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery, said the White House.
“We strongly condemn this act of violence,” said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
Curtis Scaparrotti, commander-in-chief of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, told reporters that the military exercises will continue as scheduled.
Lippert, 42, took office last year as the youngest-ever U.S. ambassador to Seoul after working for Obama on the National Security Council and at the Defense Department for years. He also served as chief of staff to former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.