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S. Korea calls DPRK's reaction to U.S. envoy attack "irrational"

Xinhua, March 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korea on Friday called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s reaction to an attack against the U.S. ambassador to Seoul "irrational."

"Violence against diplomatic missions cannot be pardoned in any case. (The government) strongly criticizes North Korea (DPRK) for distorting the nature of this case and supporting it," Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol told a routine press briefing.

DPRK's official KCNA news agency on Thursday called the knife- wielding attack against U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert a "deserved punishment."

"The recent case amid mounting anti-Americanism reflects the mindset of South Korean people censuring the U.S. for brining the danger of a war to the Korean Peninsula through the madcap saber- rattling," the KCNA reported.

The 55-year-old assailant Kim Ki-jong, head of a South Korean progressive cultural activity group, slashed Lippert on Thursday morning in his face and hand. In July 2010, Kim received a two- year suspended jail term as he threw two pieces of rock at the Japanese ambassador to Seoul.

While being arrested, Kim shouted opposition to "war exercises, " referring to the ongoing South Korea-U.S. annual war games, code- named "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle" that kicked off Monday.

Pyongyang on Monday blasted the annual war games between Seoul and Washington that run from March 2 to April 24, calling the drills "intolerable aggression moves." Endi