South Korea expressed deep shock and regret over the knife attack on US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert on Thursday, vowing to step up safety protection for foreign envoys and embassy facilities here.
A progressive 55-year-old activist cut Lippert's face and wrist with a 25-centimeter knife as the ambassador was preparing to give a lecture at a breakfast function in central Seoul, the South Korean Yonhap news agency said.
The assailant shouting anti-war slogans was immediately arrested while Lippert, bleeding, was rushed to a nearby hospital. The US State Department said his injuries are not life-threatening and strongly denounced the violence.
"The government cannot repress its shock over the violence inflicted on Ambassador Lippert and is feeling very regretful," Noh Kwang-il, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement.
Acts of violence against foreign envoys are never pardonable and the government is taking the attack on the ambassador from the U.S. -- one of its most important allies -- seriously, the spokesman said.
The government plans to thoroughly investigate the attack and take stern action, Noh said, adding that "it will make all efforts for the safety and protection of foreign envoys and embassy facilities."