SEOUL, South Korea: The US ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert sustained serious injuries to his face and hand when he was attacked with a razor blade in Seoul.
The incident took place on Thursday morning at a performing arts center in downtown Seoul.
The US envoy was about to give a lecture on the prospects for peace on the divided Korean peninsula but in the meantime a man opposed to the joint South Korea-US military drills attacked Mark Lippert.
Mark Lippert was taken to a hospital where he underwent more than two hours of surgery and 80 stitches to his face.
The police took the suspected attacker identified as the 55-year-old Kim Ki-Jong into custody. He reportedly shouted “South and North Korea should be reunified!” before lashing out at the envoy.
The attacker also condemned annual military exercises held jointly by South Korea and the United States which are currently under way.
Meanwhile, the South Korean President Park Geun-hye condemned the incident and described it as an “attack on the South Korea-US alliance”.
“This incident is not only a physical attack on the U.S. ambassador, but an attack on the South Korea-U.S. alliance and it can never be tolerated,” Park Geun-hye said.
The US state department also strongly condemned the attack.
We strongly condemn this act of violence against Ambassador @mwlippert.
— Marie Harf (@marieharf) March 5, 2015
