--- description: The man who attacked the U.S. ambassador to South Korea Thursday is having his visits to North Korea scrutinized in a police investigation title: U.S. Ambassador's Attacker Visited North Korea Seven Times image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf98c6c3a98d4a2ca/6987827ce20a876132a85733/ap361085059305.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [South Korea](/tag/south-korea/) ## South Korea Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Seoul Police Probe U.S. Ambassador Attacker's Visits to North Korea by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 6, 2015 3:31 AM CUT  U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert on March 5, 2015, in Seoul U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert on March 5, 2015, in SeoulKim Ju-sung—AP by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 6, 2015 3:31 AM CUT The knife-wielding nationalist who [attacked](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/06/us-southkorea-usa-ambassador-idUSKBN0M02OL20150306 "undefined") the U.S. ambassador to South Korea is having his travel history to North Korea reviewed as police weigh charging him with attempted murder. Kim Ki-jong slashed Ambassador Mark Lippert’s face in a knife attack ahead of a Korean reunification forum Thursday, leaving a 4-in. gash on his face and a wound on his left hand. Kim claims the attack was a protest against this week’s joint military exercises by South Korea and the U.S. On Friday, Kim’s house was raided by police, who hope to obtain a detention warrant against the prounification zealot. But central to pursuing an attempted murder charge will be evaluating Kim’s presence in North Korea over the past decades. Kim made seven trips to North Korea from 1999 to 2007, according to Seoul police officials. “We are investigating whether there is any connection between the suspect’s visits to North Korea and the crime committed against the U.S. ambassador,” said Yoon Myeong-seong, a local police chief. Meanwhile, state media in Pyongyang applauded Kim’s actions with typical belligerence, describing the incident as “deserved punishment” for U.S.–South Korean military cooperation, and saying the 55-year-old wielded “the knife of justice.” \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/06/us-southkorea-usa-ambassador-idUSKBN0M02OL20150306 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3734783/south-korea-u-s-ambassador-mark-lippert-north-korea-kim-ki-jong/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3734783/south-korea-u-s-ambassador-mark-lippert-north-korea-kim-ki-jong/"},"headline":"Seoul Police Probe U.S. Ambassador Attacker's Visits to North Korea","datePublished":"2015-03-06T03:31:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:15:24.073Z","description":"State media in Pyongyang applauded the slashing of Mark Lippert","url":"https://time.com/3734783/south-korea-u-s-ambassador-mark-lippert-north-korea-kim-ki-jong/","keywords":["South Korea","North Korea","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf98c6c3a98d4a2ca/6987827ce20a876132a85733/ap361085059305.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf98c6c3a98d4a2ca/6987827ce20a876132a85733/ap361085059305.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert on March 5, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea","caption":"U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert on March 5, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea","creditText":"Kim Ju-sung—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/south-korea/","name":"South Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3734783/south-korea-u-s-ambassador-mark-lippert-north-korea-kim-ki-jong/","name":"Seoul Police Probe U.S. Ambassador Attacker's Visits to North Korea"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: U.S. Ambassador Knifed","description":"Know Right Now: U.S. Ambassador Knifed","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fbM6iFpW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-05T14:57:19.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fbM6iFpW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3734783/south-korea-u-s-ambassador-mark-lippert-north-korea-kim-ki-jong/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3734783/south-korea-u-s-ambassador-mark-lippert-north-korea-kim-ki-jong/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```