US Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert was slashed five times by a 10 cm knife-wielding attacker yesterday. Ambassador Lippert was attending a breakfast at the Sejong Cultural Institute in Seoul prior to an event at which he would be speaking on US-Korea relations, and North-South Korea relations. The attacker was seated at a table near him, and all of a sudden, got up from his table and rushed toward the Ambassador, slashing him across the face, and wounding him in several places on his left arm. The following article is a translation of the South Korea news report, netizen comments, and pictures of the sequence of events leading up to the attack.
Article from Yonhap News :
Ambassador Lippert Sustains 12cm stab wound above chin on right side of face, receiving surgery
Stabbed in 5 places…resting after getting wounds stitched up
On March 5, Ambassador Mark Lippert was attacked at a lecture by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, sustaining a 12cm stab wound on the right side of his face above the chin. He has gotten stitches for the wound.
(Top left): Ambassador Mark Lippert sustained a 5cm slash to his right cheek, and wounds and lacerations to his left wrist. (Top right): Location of the Sejong Cultural Institute, highlighted in red. (Bottom): This image shows the layout of the Sejong Hall in the Sejong Cultural Institute, where the incident occurred. The location of the head table, where the Ambassador was seated is in the front of the room, towards the middle. The table where Kim Ki-jong was seated was slightly to the right of the head table, one row down. Both tables are highlighted in red. The red arrows show the assumed path Mr. Kim took in attacking the Ambassador. There were 9-10 people seated at each table, and there were about 200 guests altogether.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with reporters on the 5th, and said “Ambassador Lippert was at a breakfast lecture when the assailant, Kim Ki-jong, launched a surprise attack and wounded him. He was rushed to the hospital and is now undergoing surgery.”
The official said, “The suspect chanted “No war!” “No US-Korea combined training exercises!” and other slogans as he attacked with a 25cm long knife,” resulting in “Ambassador Lippert sustaining a 12cm long wound on his right cheek, wounds on his left wrist and arm–5 wounds altogether.”
This image shows the layout of the Sejong Hall in the Sejong Cultural Institute, where the incident occurred. (Top left): Ambassador Mark Lippert sustained a 5cm slash to his right cheek, and wounds and lacerations to his left wrist. (Top right): Location of the Sejong Cultural Institute, highlighted in red. (Bottom): Image showing the location of the head table, where the Ambassador was seated, and the table where Kim Ki-jong was seated. Both tables are highlighted in red. The red arrows show the assumed path Mr. Kim took in attacking the Ambassador. There were 9-10 people seated at each table, and there were about 200 guests altogether.
“He was taken to Gangbuk Samsung Hospital, and was moved to the Severance Hospital, where he received surgery, and is recovering.”
“Kim Ki-jong is a representative of the cultural activism group ‘Our Land’ that has progressive tendencies. He founded the Cultural Unification Research Institute in 1998, and Save Dokdo in 2006.” “Also in July 2010, at the press center lecture, he threw two chunks of cement at the Japanese Ambassador to Korea, and wounded the Ambassador’s female translator, for which he was sentenced to 2 years in prison with 3 years of probation.
The official said, “Mr. Kim has 6 prior convictions of assault, including ones against foreign officials,” and “he habitually attacked workers at the US Embassy in Korea.”
Comments from Naver:
corm3:
Kim Gi-jong is the figure who tried to set up a memorial altar for Kim Jong-il in the middle of Seoul. He began working in the Ministry of Unification under the Kim Dae-jung administration in 2002. In 2006 and 2007, he visited North Korea 8 times under the permission from Roh Mu-hyun. Up to recently, he was even supported by Seoul city where Park Won-soon is the mayor. FYI, New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) put a halt on the anti-terrorism legislation. They should kneel down and apologize.
sooh****:
During the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Mu-hyun administrations, Kim Gi-jong was appointed in the Unification Education Committee. He was almost appointed as a university professor, too, at that time. He also visited North Korea at least 8 times. They are truly cancerous bastards in this land…
nion****:
Thoroughly investigate jongbuk [North Korea following] groups and eradicate them. This is obviously an act of terrorism.
supe****:
I hope the ambassador will get well soon. Send the terrorist to the US and get him punished by their law.
babu****:
Jeolla-do is hopeless~~~
dltn****:
You say you oppose war but your behavior is war itself, you bastard.
remi****:
Crazy, what a national disgrace… They didn’t have a metal detector at the entrance?
hapi****:
What kind of national disgrace is this
se92****:
National disgrace, sighㅠ ㅠ
khri****:
Jeolla-do.
yons****:
Progressive orientation?? Is that really ‘progressive’ behavior? Just say ‘leftist’ and ‘rightist’ that are value-neutral terms. Terrorist lefty commies occupy all the nice-sounding terms for themselves, tsk tsk.
dksx****:
Tens of thousands of Americans devoted themselves in the Korean War. What kind of people are they who bash the US while being apologists for North Korea because North Koreans are supposed to be the same people as us? So North Koreans who are the same people as us shoot at us like that?
dece****:
Terrorist Kim Gi-jong
Hometown: Jeollanam-do Gangjin, graduated from Gwangju Geumho high school, appointed as a professor at Sungkonghoe University (built by a Jeolla-do based company).
Right now, in Gwangju and Daum, they say he is a martyr for democracy who should be set free and Park Geun-hye should be impeached.
ultr****:
People like Shin Eun-mi and Kim Gi-jong who interferes with the Highway Wishing for Unification should be executed in public.
shje****:
After he was appointed as an ambassador in Korea, Lippert has shown affection towards Korea as he learns Korean, blogs in Korean, and gave his newborn son a Korean middle name. He is a very likable person and it is unfortunate that this happened to him. When I watched the news that he got attacked by an assailant in the morning, I was worried about him as if I know him personally. I hope he gets well soon.
yout****:
I can only feel sorry about this incident… Reflect on yourselves, leftist groups.
opec****:
I support any kind of government actions to beat down lefty zombies.
moon****:
Please revive the death penalty.
ikea****:
Plastic surgery in Korea is good at not leaving scars. I hope he gets treated well ㅠ
prin****:
He has assaulted another ambassador in Korea before. How was it possible for him to get in there???
Article from Yonhap News:
Kim Gi-jong charged with attempted murder…also investigated for violation of National Security Law
[…]
Kim Gi-jong being carried out after the attack.
Comments from Daum:
그분의이름으로님:
Terrorism should disappear and criminals should be strictly punished. I hope they also apply strict laws to far-right groups such as the Korea Parent Federation, bombing at a [allegedly pro North Korean] concert, threatening with a gas tank, etc. The law should be fair to everyone.
이코노미스트님:
The habitual offender who gets violent as he pleases is wrong. Looking at how he tries to justify his terrorism, I doubt he truly has a sense of duty for peaceful unification.
uhaha님:
Funny…what about the Ilbe terrorist’s bombing?
도리도리님:
The incompetent administration is going on about jongbuk [Pro-North Korean sympathizers] to divert attention from their failure in security service?
코만도님:
Kekeke, they began the jongbuk mantra, kekeke.
ahrak님:
They’re an incompetent administration that couldn’t even protect an ambassador in their land. Well, they can’t protect their own citizens, so what can I expect? [The Park] administration is idiotic.
브라우니님:
The president of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation who invited crazy Kim Gi-jong is Hong Sa-deok. Why don’t they investigate that group, too?
지나치게괜찮은넘님:
Those guys who keep talking about a mastermind… Why don’t they investigate the mastermind behind internet comment manipulation first?
두리님:
Regardless of his ideology or purpose, he should be strictly punished.
영원한러브장님:
Right now, our lovely PGH [Park Geun-hye] bitch is on a tour.
꼬맹이님:
They always go on about jongbuk~~~ They always go on about jongbuk~~~ The true jongbuks are Chicken Geun-hye and her daddy~~
야호님:
International media call him a nationalist. This country’s weird logic where a nationalist is not rightist but leftist and the Democratic Party is blamed. The authorities do not mention at all about Hong Sa-deok who allowed Kim Gi-jong to go see the American ambassador. They know well that Kim Young-sam and Lee Myung-bak, these two administrations gave more money to North Korea than Kim Dae-jung and Roh Mu-hyun. How remarkable of the comment-manipulating National Intelligence Service to make people think of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Mu-hyun when it comes to aid for North Korea.
동남아 사랑 ㅋ님: [Responding to above]
Hey, no… You don’t know what you are talking about. The amount of money poured into North Korea by Kim Dae-jung with Hyundai was the biggest ever since the foundation of our country. Kim Jong-il even postponed the summit, asking Dae-jung for money, you skate fish. FYI, Kim Dae-jung was a guy who was born in Gyeongsang-do. Search that on the internet.
Conservative netizens on Ilbe hugely up-voted a post containing the following comic strip originally from Premium Chosun.
From Ilbe:
