The recent vicious attack on U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert (he was stabbed in the face in Seoul) is, in fact, not the first attack on an American ambassador in that country. The earlier attackers on Ambassador Donald Gregg’s residence in 1989, however, were radical students with anti-free trade motives. The 55 year-old who assaulted Ambassador Lippert, on the other hand, has ties to radical pro-Pyongyang organizations and has visited North Korea several times. Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency’s outrageous reaction to the vicious attack, calling it “just punishment for U.S. warmongers” is also highly disturbing.
I was in Korea at the time of the 1989 attack. Here’s how it played out: Then-Ambassador Gregg and his wife were sleeping when six students entered their residence. According to an October 15, 1989, article in the Chicago Tribune, the self-proclaimed “Patriotic Suicide Squad” diverted the attention of Korean police guarding the compound and scaled an eight-foot high stonewall to gain entry into the compound. (U.S. Marine security guards are only stationed at the chancery of an embassy; host country police protect diplomatic residences.) Ambassador and Mrs. Gregg listened at their locked bedroom door while the students smashed furniture, lamps, and artifacts, while shouting anti-American slogans. They did an estimated $30,000 in damage. The Greggs reportedly escaped via a side door in their pajamas to another diplomatic residence on the compound, while the students allegedly used an inflammatory liquid in an attempt to set the wooden residence (an example of traditional Korean architecture) on fire. They were, however, stopped and taken into custody by the Korean police.
The incidents, involving Ambassador Gregg and now, far more severely, Ambassador Lippert, while deeply regrettable, do not impact in any way the strong U.S.-South Korea alliance. The American people are sophisticated enough to recognize that violent radicals and/or deeply disturbed individuals exist in every country, The fact that it was disclosed that “Jihadi John,” who beheaded American hostages beginning with James Foley, was a citizen of the United Kingdom did not impact in any way Americans friendly feelings for the British people. Nor did the Korean people express any animosity toward Japanese people when Mun Se-gwang, a pro-North Korean resident of Japan, stole a revolver from an Osaka police box and smuggled it in his luggage on a fight to South Korea in 1974. Mun used the revolver to assassinate South Korea’s well-loved First Lady, Yuk Young-soo, the mother of the current South Korean president, Park Geun-hye. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of South Korea’s citizens welcome the presence of U.S. forces on their soil as a guarantor of their national security.
The account of the attack on our Ambassador by an assailant with a knife called to mind the attack on President Park, back when she was a member of the National Assembly, by a man wielding a box cutter. The Los Angeles Times reported on May 26, 2006 that “South Korean opposition leader Park Geun-hye, perhaps the most prominent woman in the country, was slashed in the face Saturday night at a crowded rally for a Seoul mayoral candidate.” Park reportedly received a 4-inch facial cut in the incident. Her assailant, Ji Chung-ho, 50, was a chronic criminal with eight previous convictions.
Ambassador Lippert’s assailant, Kim Ki-jong, 55,by contrast, may have dangerous political connections. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported that Kim has visited North Korea seven times. He also tried to erect a memorial altar in for late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. Further, Yonhap quoted a Seoul prosecution official on condition of anonymity as stating, “We considered the gravity of the issue and that the act could be seen as terrorism.” The BBC reported that, immediately prior to the attack, Kim shouted, “South and North Korea should be reunified!” and condemned the current annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises.
The existence of North Korean agents operating in South Korea has been apparent at least since 1997 when North Korean defector Yi Han-yong was gunned down near Seoul. Yi was the nephew of one of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s mistresses. Kim Jong-il had reportedly ordered Yi’s death after being angered when Yi published a tell-all book titled Taedong River Royal Family about Kim’s relationship with his aunt, therefore violating the Kim family rule of “silence.” Yi’s two murderers, who used a Belgian-made Browning pistol according to bullet analysis, were never apprehended. They were suspected of being members of North Korea’s Special Forces. Yi reportedly shouted out “bbalgangyi” (Reds!) at the time of his shooting. He died in hospital of his wounds eleven days after the attack.
In April 2010, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported that it had arrested two North Korean agents, posing as refugees, who had been sent to the South to assassinate North Korea’s most famous defector, Hwang Jang-yop. Hwang is widely credited with having been the ideological godfather of North Korea’s Juche philosophy. The agents, who were trained for four years for their special mission, claimed that they had received support for their mission from North Korean sympathizers inside South Korea, though they refused to name names. They were sentenced to ten years in prison. Hang Jang-yop, died peacefully at his Seoul home later in 2010 at age 87. Shortly thereafter, Seoul’s Metropolitan Police Agency announced the arrest of Ri Dong-sam, another Pyongyang agent who had entered South Korea posing as a refugee, also with the reported mission of assassinating Hwang.
A horrendous attack has taken place on America’s ambassador and the President’s official representative. His assailant’s ties to anti-American, pro-North Korean organizations and his repeated visits to North Korea have been documented. Pyongyang’s crowing over the violent assault is on the record. The presence of North Korean agents in South Korea bent on assassination has been officially recorded. Therefore, isn’t it time for the State Department to consider North Korea’s relisting as a state sponsor of terrorism?
Dennis P. Halpin, a former U.S. consul in Busan, is a visiting scholar at the US-Korea Institute (SAIS) and a consultant to the Poblete Analysis Group.
