U.S. believed security for Seoul ambassador adequate before attack

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert (3rd L) leaves after he was slashed in the face by an unidentified assailant at a public forum in central Seoul March 5, 2015. REUTERS/Yonhap

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government experts believed security for the U.S. ambassador to South Korea was adequate before he was slashed by a knife-wielding attacker, in spite of current high tensions with North Korea, the State Department said on Friday.

U.S. ambassador Mark Lippert needed 80 stitches after his face was cut at a forum discussing Korean unification in Seoul on Thursday by an assailant who had made multiple visits to North Korea between 1999 and 2007. [ID:nL4N0W8062}