By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye visited U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert, Monday, who is in hospital recovering from wounds suffered during a knife attack.
She stopped at the hospital while on her way to Cheong Wa Dae after returning from her four-nation Middle East tour.
Park’s visit is seen as the government’s latest effort to show that the ROK-U.S. alliance is still strong, despite the unprecedented attack on the envoy.
Lippert has been at Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital since he was slashed on the face and wrist by an extreme activist, who called for a halt to joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington. Lippert required more than 80 stitches.
“I was extremely surprised during my trip to the Middle East to hear that you were attacked,” Park told Lippert during a 10-minute meeting.
“As I experienced a similar attack in 2006, my heart ached for your suffering.”
A knife-wielding man attacked Park in 2006 during an election campaign in Seoul.
She needed some 60 stitches in her face at the same hospital.
Park, who telephoned Lippert from the United Arab Emirates hours after the attack, said Koreans as well as Americans were greatly impressed by his composure in handling the incident.
“Your tweet ‘Let’s go together,’ while in a sickbed, resonated in the hearts of Korean people and it will help advance the bilateral ties between Korea and the United States,” she said.
Lippert said through an interpreter that he and his wife were deeply moved by the interest and consolations from Koreans and the Korean government, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
According to the hospital, Lippert has been recovering faster than expected and could be released as early as this afternoon.
In the wake of the attack on the envoy, President Park has stepped up efforts to prevent such violence from hurting the 62-year-old ROK-U.S. alliance.
Along with the call to Lippert, Park condemned the attack Friday, saying the attacker’s extreme claims and anti-U.S. behavior ran counter to the ideas of most Koreans.
“It is appalling and unimaginable that the U.S. ambassador fell victim to an act of terror in broad daylight in Korea,” presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook quoted Park as saying.
On her flight back to Seoul from Qatar, Park told reporters she planned to visit Lippert, and pledged a thorough investigation.