ambassador to South Korea at a breakfast meeting in Seoul, but the
envoy narrowly survived serious injury.
Mark Lippert, 42, was also cut on his left hand, with blood spattered
over the breakfast table.
Security officers subdued the attacker, one pinning him down with a
shoe on his neck, until he was arrested.
North Korea described the attack as "just punishment for US warmongers".
In a statement on state media, it said the attacker had delivered a
"knife shower of justice".
US Secretary of State John Kerry reacted by saying America would not
be "intimidated or deterred by threats or by anybody who harms any
American diplomats".
The attacker, named as Kim Ki-jong, 55, appears to have broken his
ankle during the attack and was taken away on an ambulance trolley
after questioning.
Mr Lippert had hospital treatment but later wrote in a tweet: "Doing
well and in great spirits... Will be back ASAP to advance US-ROK
[Republic of Korea] alliance!"
Nobody believes that pro-North Korean groups represent a majority of
South Koreans but they are still a significant minority and part of
the political landscape.
In November, South Korea's constitutional court ordered that the
Unified Progressive Party be dissolved even though it had five members
elected to parliament. The authorities said the UPP posed a threat to
South Korean democracy. One of its leaders was jailed.
The counter-argument of the leftist nationalists is not so much that
they want to be ruled by Pyongyang or fall under a North Korean system
but that the American military presence in South Korea perpetuates a
division within one people - the Korean people.
The strong feelings of pro-Pyongyang activists become most obvious
when anti-Pyongyang activists launch balloons into the North loaded
with propaganda messages. The two sides confront each other, with much
jostling and shouting. There was a small pro-US demonstration after
the attack on the ambassador but some on the streets of the capital
said they applauded it.
South Korean President Park Guen-hye condemned what she called an
"attack on the South Korea-US alliance".
Local people held a protest against the attack outside the hospital
where Mr Lippert was treated, waving placards which read "Mark
Lippert, Cheer up!" and "Korea-US relationship is solid".
Eighty stitches
The attack happened at about 07:40 local time (22:40 GMT Wednesday),
as the ambassador was at a performing arts centre in central Seoul.
It took 80 stitches to close his facial wound, which was 11cm (just
more than 4 in) long and 3cm deep, doctors said.
This photo shows Mark Lippert at the table just before the attack.
--BBC
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