Kim Ki-joong, a 56-year old Korean
ultranationalist shouting slogans about reunification of Korea attacked the US ambassador to South Korea in central Seoul today. The assailant used a 25-centimeter (10-inch) paring knife making a seven inch gash.
Mark Lippert, former Chief of Staff to SecDef Chuck Hagel, was taken to hospital for treatment of knife/razor slashes to the right side of his face and his right wrist but his wounds are not life-threatening. Police immediately subdued the attacker and he is presently being questioned. CNN reported that the Ambassador was not accompanied by any DSS security personnel to the event at which he was attacked because South Korea was considered a low risk area. "A spokesman for the Korea Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which hosted the breakfast function, apologised for the lack of security at the event."
South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the suspect (Kim) came up from behind, pushed Lippert down on a table and started attacking him.
In July 2010, Kim received a suspended two-year prison sentence for throwing a piece of concrete at a Japanese Ambassador to South Korea, Yonhap said.
South Korea's YTN news channel reported that Lippert was about to deliver a speech at a breakfast being held at Sejong Hall in Seoul. Lippert has been close to Obama ever since he arrived in the Senate in 2005. Lippert worked with Obama on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and traveled the world with the senator as he garnered the foreign policy experience that helped pave the way for his presidential campaign. When Obama declared he would run for president in the 2008 race, Lippert was by his side again, and was on the road with the candidate and ultimately served as the chief foreign policy adviser for the Obama campaign.
The assailant reportedly shouted "South and North Korea should be reunified!" before lashing out at the envoy.
The attacker also expressed his opposition to annual military exercises held jointly by South Korea and the US, which are currently under way.
http://english.chosun.com/...
In a statement, the State Department said Lippert was attacked while giving a speech.
"We strongly condemn this act of violence," State said.
Quoting a senior administration official, CBS News' Mark Knoller reports that Lippert's injuries are "superficial" and that the attacker "used some sort of blade."
The White House said President Obama called Lippert to tell him that he and his wife Robyn are in "his thoughts and prayers." http://www.npr.org/...
The United States officially supports Korean reunification under a democratic government. Mike Mansfield proposed that Korea be neutralized under a great-power agreement, accompanied by the withdrawal of all foreign troops and the discontinuation of security treaties with the great power guarantors of the North and South....
A unified Korea could have great implications for the balance of power in the region, with South Korea already considered by many a regional power. Reunification would give access to cheap labor and abundant natural resources in the North, which, combined with existing technology and capital in the South, would create large economic and military growth potential. According to a 2009 study by Goldman Sachs, a unified Korea could have an economy larger than that of Japan by 2050. A unified Korean military would have the largest number of reservists as well as one of the largest numbers of military hackers
http://en.wikipedia.org/...