South Korean police said Sunday they have asked experts to look at some of the books confiscated from the home of the man who attacked the U.S. ambassador for any contents sympathetic to North Korea.
Kim Ki-jong was detained on Friday on charges of attempting to murder U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert. Kim had attacked Lippert, who was attending a morning forum in Seoul on Thursday, with a knife, according to South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency.
He told investigators he was protesting the ongoing Korea-U.S. military drills that he said were preventing national unification.
Police raided Kim's home and office and seized 22 copies of books and other print material. Investigators said experts are combing through the books for any contents that sympathize with North Korea. Having or reading such material would be in violation of South Korea's National Security Law.
Some of the confiscated books were published in North Korea or have been already judged by Seoul as being pro-North Korea, according to the police.
Seoul's law enforcement authorities have focused on how Kim obtained such books, suspecting that he got them during his previous multiple visits to the North.
Kim also tried to erect an altar in downtown Seoul in memory of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in December 2011 shortly after he died. The suspect has so far denied any links to North Korea and said he acquired the books for his dissertations and for studies.