article_snippet: (CNN)The attack on Mark Lippert, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, allegedly by a knife-wielding Korean progressive activist at a breakfast meeting in Seoul, was a rare and shocking reminder of the ongoing conflict that continues to divide the Korean Peninsula.
article_snippet: But on Thursday morning local time, the alleged assailant, who has been tied to Korean nationalist and anti-U.S. protests, reportedly shouted his opposition to annual U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises and called for Korean reunification as his cut the ambassador on the face and hand with a 10-inch knife.
article_snippet: the attack brings to mind a May 2006 attack by a knife-wielding assailant on Park Geun-hye, South Korea current President, while she was campaigning in local elections in Daejeon.
article_snippet: the attack wasn't the only time the dangers inherent in South Korea lax security environment  have been exposed: Back in 2008, a lone arsonist burned to the ground Seoul's unguarded Namdaemun, or South Gate, a South Korean cultural treasure.
article_snippet: All this said, the overwhelming initial Korean public response to the attack on Lippert has been one of outrage, condemnation and sympathy.
highlights_snippet: Mark Lippert, U.S. ambassador to South Korea, was attacked in Seoul .
  
highlights_snippet: Attacks on public figures in South Korea not unprecedented .