US Ambassador to South Korea suffers knife attack

AFP

The US ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was wounded during an attack on Thursday in Seoul, according to local media reports.

Television footage showed a stunned Lippert looking his left hand covered in blood and placing his right hand on a cut on the right side of his face; his pink tie was splattered with blood.

The TV broadcaster YTN reported that the assailant, 55, and identified only by his last name Kim, shouted: “North Korea and South must unite.”

The State Department condemned the attack, which occurred at a performing arts center in Seoul when the ambassador was preparing to present a lecture.

Lippert, 42, became US ambassador last year. His wife gave birth in Seoul and his son has a Korean name.