N. Koreans say attack 'justice'

U.S. ambassador recovering

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea on Thursday hailed a slashing attack against the U.S. ambassador in Seoul as "deserved punishment" for the United States joining military exercises on the Korean peninsula.

The brief dispatch by North Korea's official news agency did not assert any claims of responsibility or suggest ties to the knife-wielding man who lunged at Ambassador Mark Lippert at a public event Wednesday, leaving the diplomat with wounds on his face and hands.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency called the attack a "knife shower of justice" and "deserved punishment for warmonger United States," according to translations from news agencies, including South Korea's Yonhap.

There was no immediate comment from Washington.

Earlier Thursday, Lippert posted a message saying he was recovering and looking forward to working more closely with South Korean allies.

"Doing well and in great spirits," the ambassador, a former assistant secretary of defense and adviser to President Barack Obama, posted to Twitter from the Seoul hospital where he was being treated after the knife attack.

The new ambassador, who's been in his post since last summer, said he, his wife, baby son and basset hound Grigsby were all "deeply moved by the support."

The attack happened Wednesday morning at a performing arts center in downtown Seoul, where Lippert was preparing to give a lecture about prospects for peace on the divided Korean peninsula.

"Will be back ASAP to advance US-ROK alliance!," Lippert tweeted.

Pictures and television reports released after the attack showed a stunned Lippert bleeding heavily from his head and hand at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, across the street from the U.S. embassy. Police said he was attacked with a 10-inch knife. Reports said the 55-year-old attacker yelled: "No war. The two Koreas should be unified."

Surgeon Jung Nam-sik of Yonsei University Hospital, speaking at a televised briefing, said 80 stitches were needed to repair Lippert's facial wound, which was more than 4 inches long and 1 inch deep. The cut did not affect his nerves or salivary gland, the surgeon said. Lippert also suffered significant knife wounds on his left wrist while apparently struggling to push off his assailant.

The ambassador is expected to be able to use his hand after four weeks of treatment, but due to tendon damage, a more complete recovery will take longer because of the loss of sensation in his little finger, his doctors said.

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone with Lippert on Thursday morning from Saudi Arabia, where Kerry is holding a series of meetings.

"He's as good as can be expected, his spirit is strong. He tends to soldier on, or as he said to me, sailor on," Kerry said of Lippert, who served in the Navy Reserve.

Obama called Lippert to "wish him the very best for a speedy recovery, " National Security Council spokesman Bernadette Meehan said.

State Department spokesman Marie Harf issued a statement condemning the attack.

"We strongly condemn this act of violence," she said in the statement.

Police officials said the assailant, identified as Kim Ki-jong, was immediately apprehended. He is a member of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which organized the seminar, police said.

Kim grabbed Lippert just as he was about to eat breakfast and slashed him about three times toward the right side of his face and his left wrist, reports said.

In July 2010, Kim threw a piece of concrete at the Japanese ambassador to South Korea and received a two-year suspended jail sentence, Yonhap reported.

Since arriving in Seoul last summer, Lippert has established himself as a down-to-earth, approachable ambassador. He walks the short distance from his official residence to the embassy most days, greeting Koreans along the way.

He can also be seen early in the morning and at night walking his basset hound in the area of central Seoul where his residence, the embassy and the Sejong Center are all located. He has even set up a Twitter account for his hound Grigsby, grigsbybasset, where he posts pictures of himself and the dog around Seoul.

Lippert and his wife, Robyn, had their first baby in Seoul earlier this year and gave the boy a Korean middle name -- he's called James William Sejun Lippert -- which was widely reported in Korean news media.

But despite Lippert's efforts at outreach, the American presence in Korea remains contentious. There are more than 25,000 U.S. troops in the South, guarding against the threat from North Korea, and some Koreans resent their continued presence 60 years after the end of the Korean War.

Information for this article was contributed by Daniela Deane of The Associated Press.

A Section on 03/06/2015

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