Media images showed a stunned-looked Lippert staring at his blood-covered left hand and holding his right hand over a cut on the right side of his face, his pink tie splattered with blood.
The U.S. State Department condemned the attack, which happened at a performing arts center in Seoul as the ambassador was preparing for a lecture, and said Lippert was being treated at a local hospital and his injuries weren't life threatening.
YTN TV reported that the man — identified by police as a 55-year-old, surnamed Kim — screamed during the attack, "South and North Korea should be reunified."
The suspect also shouted anti-war slogans after he was detained, and Seoul police say the weapon used had a 25-centimeter blade.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said that Lippert's injuries were not life threatening.
"We can confirm that (Lippert) was assaulted Thursday morning in Seoul while giving a speech. We strongly condemn this act of violence," she said.
Kim Young-man, a spokesman for the Korea Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation which hosted the breakfast function, apologized for the lack of security at the event.
"This man suddenly jumped out of the audience seat when the breakfast was about to start at the table," Kim told reporters.
"Other people tried to stop him but the situation unfolded too quickly. The ambassador was injured on the face and sent to hospital," he said.
Security staff and police officers were later seen tackling the assailant, who was dressed in traditional Korean clothes and reportedly shouted an anti-war slogan as he lashed out at the envoy.
The United States and South Korea launched annual joint military exercises this week, triggering a surge in tensions with North Korea.
Nearly 30,000 US troops are permanently stationed in South Korea and the US would assume operational command in the event of an armed conflict with the North.
Some television reports said the attacker was known to police and had previously assaulted the Japanese ambassador to Seoul in 2010.
Lippert, a former US assistant secretary of defense for Asian affairs, took up his post in South Korea in October last year.
He was part of Obama's inner circle during the then senator's rise to the White House, and took on senior roles in national security and defense after the 2008 presidential campaign.
source: yahoo.com
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