Ambassador Mark Lippert said Wednesday he’s “counting his lucky stars” that a scary knife attack in South Korea last week didn’t inflict even more damage.
Lippert had a long cut visible on his right cheek as he gave his first sit-down interview since a crazed assailant slashed him in Seoul on Thursday.
“I feel pretty darned good,” Lippert told NBC’s “Today” show. “I feel incredibly lucky. I feel really blessed. I’m counting my lucky stars. I do feel like someone was watching over me.”
The attack was carried out by a nut job opposed to American-South Korean military exercises.
“People tell me it was about 2 centimeters away from my carotid artery, which would’ve been horrible, and again it missed all of the nerves in my face, and it missed my salivary gland,” Lippert said.
“So I do feel very, very lucky to come through this the way I have.”
The ambassador declined to answer questions about exact details of the attack, saying he still needed to be interviewed by South Korean law enforcement.
Moments after the slashing, Lippert said, he forced himself to remain calm.
“Right after it happened, what was going through my mind was I thought I was hurt and hurt pretty badly,” Lippert said. “But then what I felt was I needed to remain calm because what I didn’t want is for the bleeding to accelerate because your heart rate rise. So staying calm was important.”
Lippert, 42, then told himself: “You got to move toward the exits, start moving toward first aid.”
The attack has sparked a State Department review of security for US ambassadors across the globe.
Lippert said he doesn’t fear being outside in the South Korean capital, with a cop nearly on every block.
“I feel very safe here in Seoul. When I walk the dog or go out with my wife, I pass literally dozens of police officers,” he said.
“The streets are safe, so I have no hesitation going forward to re-engage and continue my conversations and interactions with the people of Korea.”
The ambassador is a popular figure in Seoul, often walking his dog without a heavy-handed amount of security. He has 12,300 Twitter followers.
