US Ambassador to South Korea Attacked by Knife Man

United States ambassador to South Korea, Mark W. Lippert, has been attacked by a screaming man with a knife in South Korea. The ambassador is in stable condition.

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, got attacked today in Seoul, South Korea by a man with a knife. The ambassador was attacked with a razor blade by a man at a venue where Mr. Lippert was scheduled to give a lecture. He suffered a wound in the face and was brought to a nearby hospital. He is reportedly in a stable condition.

The attacker identified himself to reporters at the scene as Kim Ki-jong. He said that the assault was an act of protest against the annual joint military exercises that the United States started this week with South Korea. He was immediately arrested right at the scene.

A yet-to-be-named group of activists in South Korea are claiming that the military exercises will hamper efforts to unit South Korea and North Korea. However, crimes will continue to happen as long as North Korea is in the hands of dictator Kim Jong-un.

Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement, according to The New York Times, that Mr. Lippert’s wounds were not life-threatening. “We strongly condemn this act of violence,” she said, adding that the embassy in Seoul was “coordinating with local law enforcement authorities.”

U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert was actually scheduled to speak at a breakfast meeting hosted by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, a local group. 

Mark Lippert was appointed U.S. Ambassador to South Korea last year. You would think that South Korea is a safe country and that an attack like this on a United States official is very unlikely. But it happened, anyway.