And immediately upon arriving in Seoul, President Park went to visit U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert... who is making a fast recovery from last week's knife attack.<br />He is expected to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow afternoon.<br />Here's Arirang's Hwang Sung-hee with more. <br />Doctors say Ambassador Lippert will likely be out of the hospital by Tuesday afternoon.<br />The U.S. envoy needed 80 stitches on his face and arm following a brutal knife attack last week in central Seoul.<br /><br /><br />"We are planning to remove half of the stitches this morning and the other half tomorrow morning. If there's no problem, he will leave the hospital tomorrow afternoon."<br /><br /><br />The 55-year-old assailant, Kim Ki-jong, who is now under arrest, was protesting the ongoing joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.<br />The attack raised concerns about whether it would leave a dent in relations between the two allies.<br />But President Park Geun-hye, visiting the ambassador on Monday, said his handling of the incident had strengthened the alliance.<br /><br /><br />"People in both the United States and South Korea were deeply moved by your bold and brave manner of dealing with the incident. I believe it was an incident that brought South Korea and the U.S. even closer together."<br /><br /><br />President Park headed over to the hospital upon her return from the Middle East, saying she was saddened by the news, since she, too, was a victim of a similar attack back in 2006.<br />The doctors treating Ambassador Lippert say he is in good spirits and eager to get back to work as soon as possible.<br />Hwang Sung-hee, Arirang News.
