South Korean President Park Geun-hye strongly condemned a knife attack on the U.S. ambassador to Seoul on Thursday, saying it is an attack against the bilateral alliance and cannot be tolerated.
A 55-year-old man attacked Ambassador Mark Lippert at a breakfast function in central Seoul earlier in the day, where he was having breakfast before giving a lecture. Lippert was listed in stable condition after having cuts on his face and wrist stitched at a Seoul hospital.
“The latest incident is not only an act of physical violence on the U.S. ambassador in Seoul, but also an attack on the South Korea-U.S. alliance, which cannot be pardoned,” senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs Ju Chul-ki quoted Park as saying.
Park is now in Abu Dhabi, the third leg of her four-nation visit to the Middle Eastern region.
The assailant later said the attack was intended to end joint annual Seoul-Washington military exercises, which he said hinders efforts to reunify the two Koreas.
Park was briefed on the incident right after it took place and expressed astonishment, Ju noted.
The president extended her consolation to the family of Lippert as well as to the U.S. government and President Barack Obama, the secretary said, quoting Park as saying that “Necessary steps are being taken (regarding the incident), including a thorough investigation and the intensification of security alerts.”
Seoul will continue its close cooperation with the U.S.government to deal with the aftermath of the incident, Ju said. (Yonhap)
