Knifed US Envoy Leaves Hospital

Mark Lippert has escaped his "deserved punishment [representing] warmonger United States" and his "knife shower of justice." The 42-year-old US ambassador to South Korea was discharged today from the Seoul hospital where he's been recuperating after a knife attack last week at the hands of a Korean nationalist, the BBC reports. Eighty stitches have been removed from Lippert's face, doctors say, and Lippert said at a press conference at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital today that the pain in his injured wrist has died down; he also said he anticipates making a full recovery.

He told reporters that his mission to be "open and friendly" would remain the same. "I feel pretty darn good, all things considered," he said. "I mean it was obviously a scary incident. But I'm walking, talking, holding my baby, hugging my wife, so I just feel really good." Meanwhile, Lippert added, the State Department is reportedly looking into increasing security for diplomats in Korea and will "take a hard look at our tactics, techniques, and procedures here," per NBC News. (More Mark Lippert stories.)