US Ambassador to South Korea Recovering After Knife Attack
Best wishes to US Ambassador Mark Lippert as he recovers from the cowardly knife attack by a Korean leftist:
A knife attack Thursday that injured the U.S. ambassador to South Korea is the latest act of political violence in a deeply divided country where some protesters portray their causes as matters of life and death.
The slashing of Ambassador Mark Lippert’s face and arm, which left deep gashes and damaged tendons and nerves, was an extreme example, but America infuriates some leftist South Koreans because of its role in Korea’s turbulent modern history.
Washington, which backed the South during the 1950-53 Korean War against the communist North, still stations nearly 30,000 troops here and holds annual military drills with Seoul. That’s something anti-U.S. activists view as a major obstacle to their goal of an eventual reunification of the rival Koreas.
Purported U.S. interference in Korean affairs appeared to be the main grievance of the man police named as the assailant, Kim Ki-jong, 55, who has a long history of anti-U.S. protests.
“South and North Korea should be reunified,” Kim shouted as he slashed Lippert with a 25-centimeter (10-inch) knife, police and witnesses said.
The attack left a gash on Lippert’s face that started under his cheekbone and extended diagonally across his cheek toward his jawbone. He received 80 stiches to close the 11-centimeter (4-inch) wound, Chung Nam-sik of Severance Hospital told reporters. Lippert, 42, also had surgery on his arm to repair damage to tendons and nerves and was in stable condition at the hospital. [Associated Press]
The leftist Kim Ki-jong who was involved in the attack has a long history of violence to include attacking the Japanese ambassador to Korea with a concrete block. He says he attacked Lippert because of the ongoing US-ROK Key Resolve military exercise:
Kim is well-known among police and activists as one of a hard-core group of protesters willing to use violence to highlight their causes. Such protesters often speak of their actions in terms of a war, of a struggle to the death.
Kim told police that he attacked Lippert to protest U.S.-South Korean military drills that started Monday — exercises that the North has long maintained are preparations for an invasion. Kim said the drills, which Seoul and Washington say are purely defensive, ruined efforts for reconciliation between the two Koreas, officials at Seoul’s Jongno police station said in a televised briefing.
Here is what North Korea had to say about the attack:
North Korea’s state-controlled media later crowed that Kim’s “knife slashes of justice” were “a deserved punishment on war maniac U.S.” and reflected the South Korean people’s protests against the U.S. for driving the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war because of the joint military drills.
The real question is if any of the North Korean spies within South Korea sent Kim to conduct this attack or not? Another question is what was the security like around the Ambassador to allow this leftist loon to get access to the Ambassador? You would think they would have increased security for him during the Key Resolve exercise?
Also keep in mind this is the not the first political knife slashing to happen in recent years. In 2006 current President Park Geun-hye was slashed across the face by a knife wielding man:
Image via the BBC.
Park needed 60 stitches to seal the cut. Ambassador Lippert’s wound looks much worse. Anyway the person convicted of slashing President Park received 11 years in jail. I think Kim Ki-jong’s days of protesting the US are over because he will likely receive a very long sentence to send a message to these leftist loons. South Korea also needs to take a stronger stance when people commit violent acts against the Japanese embassy in South Korea as well. As this attack shows these loons get emboldened when they are not properly punished after committing violent acts against the Japanese embassy.
THIS WILL BE OBAMA’S BENGHAZI!!!
We need a thorough and impartial investigation. After which we should impeach and jail Obama.
I sent a message about this to a… a… an interesting guy as the story broke.
He replied, “You think I don’t follow the news? That piece of sh*t worked for Dianne Feinstein and has been sucking Obama’s d*ck and puking up his f*cked up foreign policy from day one. It’s unfortunate for America that he lived.”
I looked into this guy’s history a bit… and I’m not so sure I can disagree with that statement. Anything involved closely with Dianne Finstein is pretty much a deal-breaker in terms of showing any respect.
Anybody have an opinion on this guy?
…and to think all I ever did was make fun of his Habsburg jaw when his political history is possibly a great target.
Oh so Americans don’t like this guy? That must mean he must be a fantastic person to begin with, it’s too bad what happened to him. I hope he recovers fully and continue to do the same things as he has done. As for that lunatic, I hope he gets life. I don’t like crazy violent people who go around using a knife on anyone.
Leon, this barely made news in the USA. Nobody in the USA cares.
Tom: Are you OK, buddy? What’s wrong?
Denny: Of course! Billary has an email account! 😉
There’s a fine line between clever satire and trolling.
Leon often straddles it.
Q: How do we know Ambassador Mark Lippert likes toast?
A: He had two slices with breakfast.
^ Leippert is laughing into stitches….. all 80 of them.
Maybe its a good thing guns aren’t as easily accessible in SK.
No sympathy on this end for someone out of the embassy getting attacked…their complete lack of assistance towards regular American Citizens, who suffer at the hands of HN criminals, is coming home to roost…maybe, just maybe, DOS will use this as a “Lesson Learned,” & stop being such A-holes…
This adds a new twist…
“On Thursday, doctors at Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital said they treated Lippert for an 11-cm (4 inches) gash on the right side of his face, a puncture wound on his left wrist, and a third undisclosed facial injury.
Today, in an unusual twist, Lippert’s doctors made a rare public apology and asked for understanding as they disclosed that serious errors were committed during the emergency surgery.
‘It is with absolute humbleness that I deeply apologize for misdiagnosis and mistreatment of the esteemed Ambassador Lippert,’ stated Doctor Kim Su-Sool as he bowed deeply to the assembled reporters at the afternoon press conference. ‘I further apologize to the media and public which has been misled over our incorrect actions. ‘
Dr. Kim went on to explain how the mistake was made.
‘ I am not making an excuse and I accept full responsibility on behalf of myself and my team. However, conducting the emergency surgery was a very stressful event due to the status of the patient. There was much blood that obscured a complete examination and some members of the surgical team were not familiar with American anatomy. After closing the wound on the right side of Ambassador Lippert’s cheek with 20 stitches and then treating the puncture wound on his wrist, we set about the difficult work of closing the serious trauma located on his chin with 60 more stitches.’
The stitches have since been removed and Lippert ball chin has been restored to its original testicular contour.”
Q: Why do professional golfers envy Ambassador Mark Lippert’s cheeks?
A: With a slice, he gets a hole in one.
If this had happened to a S. Korean Ambassador in America, S. Koreans would be protesting by the millions all over S. Korea and Seoul City Hall. They’d be shouting “Yankee Go Home” for which I agree. Leave the Korean hillbillies alone to defend themselves against each other/Japan/etc…and squabble in their own duty.
Now I can’t tell the difference between Tom, tbone, and Leon again. They seem to have switched roles….
Q: What’s the difference between Ambassador Mark Lippert and Tbone?
A1: Ambassador Mark Lippert’s gash isn’t between his legs.
A2: When Ambassador Mark Lippert opens his mouth, he doesn’t pain everyone else.
A3: Ambassador Mark Lippert has a job.
Okay, you made that clear; butt what about tom and the guy who used to wear flashy belt gear?
Yes Setnaffy, it’s true. Any people who don’t share your far right world view are all the same. It’s easier if you paint them that way and group them all together. You can then more easily dehumanize them and herd them onto trains. Of course you can relieve your guilt by knowing the lord probably approves and you are sending them to their ultimate judgement.
Does Godwin’s Law still work? If so, I won.
It’s socialists (not “right winger”) who get the trains running on time, to the camps or subways either one… Conservatives tend to want to drive or take a taxi instead of forcing folks to take the train.
And I love how you regularly misquote and misrepresent Scriptures you don’t know or believe–yet expect to generate gravitas and guilt in your audience. Are you really that shallow? If you actually knew the Scriptures, you might be less eager to violate them. Even though you’re not likely to be beheaded or burned alive by a Christian, there are consequences for you later.
Just grow up and learn to tell the truth. It’ll make you look less like tbone.
And yes, you, tbone, and Tom have been sharing scripts. That’s the point of my light-hearted jibes,
Your “scriptures” are as muddled as your mind (and likely lend a hand to your inner turmoil and confusion). To know them and reject them are not mutually exclusive. You think national socialism wasn’t a far right ideology? You might want to review the course material.
…and the only reason Christians aren’t currently burning and beheading people is because secular governments keep the cults in check. The Christians in Central Africa, where the government is weak, are no different from the current radical Muslims or Christians from the dark ages. Be careful what you wish for when you pray for a “nation under god.” Believers burn just as readily as those who abstain from the delusion.
Make sure you wear your reflective belt.
National Socialism was still socialism. They just had more gays designing uniforms than Stalin.
And the rest just makes you sound like tbone. Heck, even CH is calling you on it…
Btw, for those of you still confuddled by this debate, please read Ephesians 2:8-9. No one goes to Heaven because they are good. They go because of Christ. And no one goes to Perdition because they are bad. They go because they rejected Christ.
Remember this the next time a guy with a belt fetish calls someone a Nazi because he was too lazy to look up accurate insults.