US ambassador healing after knife attack in Seoul

US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert, 42, leaves a breakfast forum in central Seoul on Thursday after he was slashed in the face by Kim Ki-jong, a 55-year-old political activist opposed to ongoing US-ROK military drills. Reuters

Activist for reunification of Korean Peninsula lunged at diplomat, slashing his face and arm

US Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Mark Lippert was recovering from surgery on Thursday after his face and arm were slashed by a knife-wielding activist opposed to ongoing US-ROK military drills.

Media images showed a stunned-looking Lippert examining his blood-covered left hand and holding his right hand over a cut on the right side of his face, his pink tie spattered with blood.

The United States condemned the "act of violence" which left the ambassador bleeding profusely.

He was taken to a hospital, where his condition was described as stable after treatment by surgeons.

After surgery, Lippert said he was well and in great spirits.

"Doing well and in great spirits! Robyn, Sejun, Grigsby and I - deeply moved by the support!" Lippert tweeted, referring to his wife, newborn son and dog. "Will be back ASAP to advance US-ROK alliance!"

Witnesses described how a man armed with a 25-centimeter-long paring knife lunged across a table and attacked Lippert at a breakfast function in central Seoul.

The assailant, identified as Kim Ki-jong, 55, was immediately wrestled to the ground and taken into police custody.

During the assault, Kim screamed a slogan in favor of reunifying the divided Korean Peninsula, and later shouted his opposition to joint US-ROK military exercises that began on Monday.

The drills, known as Foal Eagle and Key resolve, always trigger a surge in tensions with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which condemns them as rehearsals for invasion.

"I plotted the whole thing alone for 10 days. ... I made the sacrifice to stop Key Resolve," Kim told police according to the Yonhap news agency.

The US State Department condemned the act of violence, and the White House said President Barack Obama had called the ambassador "to tell him that he and his wife Robyn are in his thoughts and prayers, and to wish him the very best for a speedy recovery".

ROK President Park Geun-hye condemned the "intolerable" assault, saying it was tantamount to an attack on the ROK-US military alliance.

Premeditated attack

A spokesman for the Korea Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which hosted the breakfast function, apologized for the lack of security at the event.

"This man suddenly jumped out of his seat when the breakfast was about to start at the table," the spokesman said. "Other people tried to stop him but the situation unfolded too quickly."

Seoul's Foreign Ministry said it was the first time a foreign ambassador stationed in modern ROK had been injured in a violent attack.

Kim runs a small activist group that pushes for reunification with the DPRK and regularly organizes protests against Japanese territorial claims to a group of small islands controlled by the ROK.

The DPRK on Thursday described the knife attack in Seoul as "just punishment" for the US decision to push ahead with joint military exercises with the ROK.

"Just punishment for US warmongers," the official KCNA news agency said in the headline to a brief dispatch which called the attack a valid "expression of resistance."

AP - AFP