Lippert recalls last year's knife attack as chance to prove strong Korea-U.S. alliance

The near-fatal knife attack he sustained during a lecture event in South Korea last year turned out to be a good opportunity to prove the robust nature of the bilateral alliance between Seoul and Washington, U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert said Monday.

The U.S. envoy was attacked by a knife-wielding South Korean man in March 2015, which left him with deep gashes that required more than 80 stitches and six days of hospitalization.

The 56-year-old assailant, Kim Ki-jong, is currently serving a prison term for the assault after getting a 12-year sentence and an additional 18-month term for assaulting a prison guard and a doctor.

"It was a horrific moment, but in hindsight, I think it turned out to be an event that showed the substance of the South Korea-U.S. relations and alliance," Lippert said during the filming of a lecture with the defense ministry-run broadcast station, Korean Forces Network TV.

"The first person who suppressed the assailant was a South Korean lawmaker ... a South Korean journalist summoned a police car and South Korean doctors and a U.S. doctor from the embassy treated me," Lippert said.

"I was deeply moved by the unlimited support from the South Korean people and Americans, and that confirmed our thought that the South Korea-U.S. alliance is a special one that can never be broken and will remain solid for a long time," the ambassador was quoted as saying in the defense ministry's media release in Korean.

About 60 South Korean and U.S. troops attended the filmed lecture, which will go on the air at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

The envoy also touched on the birth of his son, Sejun, in South Korea and Habib House, the official U.S. ambassadorial residence in Seoul, which was built in the traditional Korean style, as well as his special interest in South Korea's baseball league, the defense ministry release said. (Yonhap)