In protest against joint ROK-US military exercise
Ambassador Mark Lippert of the United States in Seoul was assaulted by a radical progressive Korean in Seoul on the morning of March 5, 2015 at a lecture meeting hosted by Minhwahyeop (Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation). Amb. Lippert suffered several cuts on the face. The assailant was identified as Kim Ki-jong, male, 55 years old, leader of the Uri Madang (literally, Our Garden). Uri Madang is known as a progressive cultural organization.
According to eye witnesses, Kim sat on the right of the rear of Amb. Lippert’s seat and all of a sudden Kim jumped on the US ambassador and attacked him several times. Amb. Lippert bled badly and was hastily evacuated by a Korean police patrol car to the near-by Gangbuk Samsung Hospital, where he had an emergency treatment.
Kim was apprehended by the Korean police on the spot. To the police interrogators, Kim was quoted as saying, “I am the representative of Uri Madang. I carried out a terrorist attack. I have made leaflets and they are for opposing the (ROK-Us) war game.”