U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert will be released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon as he is now able to be treated from home for a knife injury he sustained in an attack last week, hospital officials said.
Jung Nam-shik, head of the Yonsei University Health System, said Lippert was to leave Severance Hospital between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., but the exact time would need to be confirmed by the U.S. Embassy.
All the stitches on his face have been removed. Lippert continues to experience pain in his left wrist, but it has subsided to the point where it can be treated with a mild painkiller, Jung said. His left arm, however, will need to be sterilized regularly to prevent infection.
Lippert was slashed on his face and wrist last week by a knife-wielding South Korean man who attacked him at a breakfast function in downtown Seoul.
Kim Ki-jong was arrested at the scene and has been detained on various charges, including attempted murder.
He fractured his right ankle when authorities overpowered him and will undergo surgery at the National Police Hospital this afternoon. Police said the interrogation will continue at the hospital. Kim said he assaulted the ambassador to alert the U.S. to “the fact that it hinders inter-Korean reunification.” He denies having meant to murder the envoy.
South Korea remains technically at war with rival North Korea, with the U.S. stationing more than 28,000 troops here to deter North Korean aggression. Hard-core nationalists here argue that the U.S. gets in the way of Korean reunification, as Pyongyang considers U.S. troops here threatening.
Authorities are continuing their probe to determine whether Kim has violated South Korea’s National Security Law, which bans people from openly praising North Korea.
Kim was already found to have traveled to the North seven times between 1999 and 2007. He also tried to erect an altar in the heart of Seoul that honors late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2011, according to authorities.
About a dozen books were recently found in Kim’s home that are suspected of being dangerously pro-North Korea in nature, including “On the Art of Cinema” written by Kim Jong-il.
Possession of pro-North Korea books alone would not be sufficient to charge Kim with violating the National Security Law.
Authorities would need to prove that Kim tried to threaten national security or destabilize South Korea’s democratic order with these materials.
Kim reportedly told officers he considers North Korean founder Kim Il-sung a “great leader of the 20th century” with no leader in South Korea coming close.
In 2010, Kim received a suspended jail term for throwing pieces of rock at a Japanese ambassador to Seoul. It was the first incident in South Korea in which a foreign envoy was attacked by a local.
Lippert, 42, is the youngest U.S. ambassador to South Korea. He took office in October and his wife gave birth to a son here. His son was given a Korean middle name.
Meanwhile, police said they are trying to identify a man who called in a phone threat to a local cable news channel early Tuesday morning, saying he will blow up its headquarters in Seoul if it continues to show Lippert’s injured face on TV.
The man reportedly said he had made several such requests before and would not tolerate another display of Lippert’s injury.
Police said his motive was not immediately clear. (Yonhap)
