Slashed U.S. envoy released from Seoul hospital

"The bottom line is that this incident has only strengthened our love and our affection for this country and, I believe, the unbreakable bond that exists between the United States and the Republic of Korea," he told reporters at Severance Hospital. He also expressed gratitude to all the South Koreans and Americans who expressed support and those who visited him at the hospital. "Let me once again say thank you to the incredible people of Korea and the people of the United States for friendship. Thank you for your love and thank you for your support," he said. Lippert suffered an 11-centimeter-long, 3-cm-deep cut on the right side of his face and wounds on his left arm and fingers and received about 80 stitches at the hospital. He was assaulted with a 25-cm fruit knife shortly after arriving at a lecture hall in downtown Seoul on Thursday to give a speech at a breakfast meeting. The assailant, identified by police as 55-year-old Kim Ki Jong, is believed to be a pro-Pyongyang South Korean civic activist who visited North Korea seven times between 1999 and 2007. Kim was previously convicted of hurling a piece of concrete at the Japanese ambassador to Seoul in 2010. While the motive for Thursday's attack is unclear, the police said that Kim, after slashing Lippert, shouted his opposition to South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises that began March 2, saying they hinder the mood for inter-Korean reconciliation. Kim was formally arrested on Friday on charges of attempted murder, violence against a foreign envoy and obstruction of official business, according to the police. The police said Monday that some materials found at Kim's home are considered to show support for North Korea, which could result in charges of violating the National Security Law. South Korean President Park Geun Hye visited Lippert at the hospital immediately after returning from a nine-day trip to the Middle East on Monday. The move was widely seen as an effort to minimize the fallout of the attack to South Korea's alliance with the United States. Source: Kyodo