US Ambassador in stable condition after being attacked at event in Seoul

Posted on : 2015-03-05 15:53 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Mark Lippert sustained wounds to his face and left arm in attack by extreme nationalist, with a history of violence 
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US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert is in stable condition after suffering wounds to his face and wrist in a knife attack on the morning of Mar. 5. The attack occurred at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, where Lippert was one of several speakers, at a breakfast lecture event organized by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation.

Lippert was seated at his table when he was attacked by Kim Ki-jong, 55, who was wielding a 25cm paring knife. The ambassador was then taken to Kangbuk Samsung Hospital for emergency treatment, and then moved to Yonsei Severance Hospital. Doctors said Lippert underwent surgery for 2.5 hours to repair an 11cm-long, 3cm deep gash in his cheek and a 3cm wound to left hand. He also suffered nerve damage to his left hand, but no damage to his major facial organs.

The doctor who treated Lippert said they successful repaired his facial wound, and that if the cut had been any deeper it would have severed his artery.

Photographs from the event showed a Lippert covered in blood and looking shocked as he was taken out of the event.

Before carrying out the attack, Kim reportedly shouted opposition to the ongoing Key Resolve exercises, joint South Korea-US military drills, as well as a slogan about the need for Korean reunification.

Lippert, 42, has been ambassador since Oct. 2014 and at 42, is the youngest to ever hold the post. He was formerly the assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs from 2011 to 2012, and was a foreign policy advisor to US President Barack Obama when Obama was a Senator.

Lippert’s wife gave birth in Seoul last month to the couple’s first child.

Kim Ki-jong is an extreme nationalist and also carried out an attack in 2010 on then-Japanese ambassador Toshinori Shigeie in an expression of opposition to Japan’s claim to Dokdo. Also, in Feb. 2014 Kim hit a man in the face at an event in Seoul’s Sinchon neighborhood, at which Mayor Park Won-soon had given a lecture wishing local businesspeople prosperity.

President Park Geun-hye, is currently on a tour of the Middle East, but said in a statement that what happened was “not only a physical attack on the U.S. ambassador in South Korea but also an attack on the Korea-U.S. alliance and we will not tolerate it.”

Kim has been called pro-North Korea activist and experts expressed concern that today’s attack could lead to more witch hunting of leftists in South Korea.

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