Mark Lippert, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, rejoined a forum on inter-Korean reconciliation Friday, nine months after he suffered a knife attack.
In March, he was attacked by a knife-wielding man during a breakfast function in downtown Seoul hosted by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation. He sustained face and arm injuries that needed 80 stitches.
The council invited the envoy back to its forum, though it did not open its forum to the media.
Around 60 members of the pro-unification group participated in the event, it said.
It quoted Lippert as saying the Seoul-Washington alliance is in the best-ever situation.
He added that his affection for South Korea had deepened since the March incident, according to the council.
Kim Ki-jong, the assailant, was arrested immediately at the scene, where he called for the cancellation of a joint military drill between the allies. Kim was sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempted murder.
The council was created in 1998, bringing together politicians, religious figures and civic groups to help promote reconciliation and unification on the divided Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)
