Envoy attacker praised N.K. founder

Kim Ki-jong, who slashed the face and wrist of U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert last week, has praised the North Korea founder during the police probe, authorities said Monday, as the investigation zeros in on whether he also violated the National Security Law.

In a press briefing, investigators said the leftist activist stated that North’s former ruler Kim Il-sung was a great national leader of the 20th century, for what he described as “efforts in the anti-Japan movement during the colonial period and for founding and successfully leading his own state.”

Kim was arrested Friday over charges of attempted murder, assault on a foreign diplomat and obstruction of official duty after attacking the top U.S. envoy during a morning seminar in Seoul the previous day.
 

The authorities said 10 materials which were seized from Kim’s house and office during the raid on Friday were confirmed to have contained “enemy-benefiting” contents. Investigators have found about 30 suspicious books and periodicals in the raid and sent them to North Korea experts for an examination. About 20 others are still under investigation, the police said.

The confiscated items include the “Film Art,” a book that late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il wrote in the 1970s based on the North’s juche (self-reliance) ideology; and a series of periodicals published by the Pan-Korean Coalition for National Unification, a group that the Supreme Court ruled in 1997 had illegally benefited the enemy, namely the North, they added.

Asked whether there are any great leaders in the South, the suspect said “no,” the police said.

Regarding the two Koreas, the 55-year-old also replied that the North is an autonomous regime while the South is just an anticolonization society.

Investigators will further probe the reason he possessed those materials and will consider leveling charges against him for violating the National Security Law, the authorities said.

Earlier last week, the Unification Ministry confirmed that Kim had visited the North seven times between 1999 and 2007 for either sightseeing or participating in civic events.

He had also attempted to set up an altar near Seoul City Hall in memory of the North’s former leader Kim Jong-il after the dictator’s death in December 2011, the ministry added.

The suspect has been denying all charges, the authorities said.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)