US Ambassador cut face and arm in Seoul

North Korea called the attack on the US ambassador to South Korea "just punishment for American militarists."

A report from the Korean Central News Agency said the attacker "unleashed a knife-like stream of justice."

Ambassador Mark Lippert was stabbed in the face and arm during a business breakfast in Seoul. Immediately after the incident, he was taken to hospital. It is reported that the ambassador was not seriously hurt.

The attacker, a 55-year-old man named Kim Ki Jong, was detained by security forces at the scene of the crime. Before the attack, he, according to eyewitnesses, shouted: “North and South Korea must unite!”

He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the annual joint maneuvers that are currently being conducted by the United States and South Korea.

North Korea calls the exercises, which involve more than 200 thousands of troops, the preparation of the invasion, and promises to respond to them.

South Korean police intend to conduct a search in the attacker's home and find out if he is not connected to North Korea.

President Barack Obama called Ambassador Lippert and wished him a speedy recovery.

The US State Department strongly condemned the incident involving the ambassador. South Korean President Park Geun-hye called it "an attack on the alliance between South Korea and the United States."

Doctors reported that 80 stitched sutures on the ambassador's 11-centimeter wound. According to the hospital, the wound did not touch the nerves of the salivary gland.

Mark Lippert was previously Assistant Secretary of Defense, he was appointed Ambassador to South Korea in 2014.