Kim Ki-jong, the 55-year old South Korean violent leftist who attacked Mark Lippert, the US Ambassador to South Korea, is facing possible indictment for attempted murder. He denies the charge, saying his act was symbolic of his protest against the ongoing US-South Korea military drills. But Daily NK says otherwise; sources quote Kim, “I committed an act of terror today," he declared. “I initially tried to stab him in the neck," adding that he prepared for the attack over the course of ten days. His actions reflect that of a premeditated murder attempt. Kim claims that the drills will only thwart efforts for a North and South Korea unification. Seoul and Washington maintain that these drills are merely defensive exercises and are not in preparation for an invasion.
It must be remembered that the assailant is a known figure among South Korean authorities, having been actively protesting Japan’s territorial claim to the islands that South Korea calls Dokdo and Japan calls Takeshima. In 2010, Kim hurled concrete bricks at the Japanese envoy Toshinori Shigei in 2010. He was convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term that was subsequently suspended. Shigei was able to duck but a woman standing nearby was hit.
Three weeks ago, on March 5th, Kim made another assault on a diplomat and this time he was successful. The US ambassador was in a breakfast meeting at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts when Kim slashed his face and arm with a knife and inflicted wounds that needed 80 stitches and a five-day confinement at Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital.
Fortunately for Lippert, the wounds fell short of missing a vital artery that would have been life-threatening. Two weeks later, he was back at work in his office at the US Embassy in Seoul. At a news conference, Mr. Lippert, surrounded by heavy security said, "I feel pretty darn good, all things considered. I mean it was obviously a scary incident. But I'm walking, talking, holding my baby, hugging my wife, so I just feel really good."
But although response to the attack was quick, and Kim was brought to the ground at the scene immediately and taken into police custody, the incident still raises the question of how secure the ambassador in South Korea was. Joseph LeBaron, former U.S. ambassador to Qatar and Mauritania says, "It is alarming that the attacker could get so close." That Kim got close is one issue; what makes it incredulously ridiculous is, he was allowed to, in spite of being known as a notorious militant. His presence in any gathering cannot be ignored. His past antics include:
Burning a US flag on the grounds of the embassy at Seoul in 1985
In 2007, setting himself on fire in front of the president’s office in Seoul to demand a re-investigation of a rape of a fellow group member that occurred in Kim’s office in 1988
Setting up a memorial altar for the late North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, in Seoul in 2011 holding one-man protests against Japan over the Dokdo/Takeshima islands dispute.
According to sources, when Kim asked for permission to enter the venue, a police officer referred the matter to one of the event organizers, who gave the nod, disregarding basic security protocol.
What’s more, in the Vienna Convention it was decided that the host countries should provide foreign diplomats residing in their nations with the utmost level of security. The US Embassy in Seoul is secured by US Marines and Mr. Lippert has only a handful of local police as escorts. Does South Korea share the law-abiding value with other developed countries?
It seems that South Korean officials have been indulging Kim’s violent tendencies. Some rightists even regard him as a demi-hero for his hard-line stance against Japan. Ties between the two countries have turned cold again. South Korean President Park Geun-hye is demanding an official apology from Japan for war atrocities committed 70 years ago, specifically regarding the so-called “comfort women.” What she misses is not only that Japan had apologized through the Kono Statement of 1993 and offered compensation through the Asian Women’s Fund in 1994, which South Korea officially refused, but also that the two countries had concluded bilateral treaty on the settlement of problem and claim in 1965 when her own father, Mr. Park Chung yee, had been President. Declassified records however reveal that money given by Japan to South Korean comfort women were pocketed by then President Park Cheung-yee.
The assault on a high-ranking US official in South Korea’s territory by one of its own citizens should give America pause. Even before this incident, the bond between the two countries has been showing signs of strain. In a video message last December, Dr. Robert J. Shapiro, former US Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, has urged Pres. Park to reconsider her actions.
While South Korea continues to remain one of the US’ biggest allies in Asia, it’s time to review if its relevance as an absolute ally should remain, considering its recent sentiments. It’s time for the United States to rethink its long-held assumptions about South Korea’s democratic principles and the government’s legal rules. South Korea should begin trekking the road to recovering the mutual trust it once had with America if it hopes to continue receiving US support.