CRI听力:S. Korea Indicts US Envoy Attacker for Attempted Murder

A South Korean man has been formally charged with attempted murder for slashing the US ambassador in Seoul with a knife last month.

55-year-old Kim Ki-jong is accused of attacking ambassador Mark Lippert with a fruit knife during a forum on Korean reunification early last month.

Lippert suffered deep gashes to his face and wrist, requiring him to be in hospital for 5 days.

Lee Sang-ho is a South Korean prosecutor.

"Prosecutors charged the defendant, who tried to kill the U.S. ambassador to South Korea while protesting against U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises, with attempted murder, the assault of a foreign envoy, and obstruction of duty."

If found guilty of attempted murder, Kim could face life in prison or even the death penalty, which is rarely used in South Korea.

Kim is a known Korean nationalist.

He's the same man who hurled a rock at the then-Japanese ambassador to Seoul back in 2010 during the flaring of tensions between South Korea and Japan over the Dokdo Islands.

He was given a two-year suspended sentence for that attack, which missed the ambassador, but hit one of his assistants.