Attack on Envoy 'Won't Weaken Korea-U.S. Ties'

The U.S.-South Korea relations will not be weakened by the slasher attack on U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert here, the U.S. State Department said.

"The alliance with South Korea is part of the cornerstone of our relationship in Asia. It's an incredibly important relationship," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters Friday.

"I think the fact that President Park and other senior officials have either called or going to visit Ambassador Lippert shows the strength and depth of our relationship."

The Washington-Seoul alliance "certainly won't change at all because of this event, this awful situation. Certainly, our relationship will continue as strongly as it ever has been going forward," she also said.

The ambassador will get back to the job as soon as he can, she added.

Slamming North Korea's characterization of the attack was "just punishment" for the U.S. "warmonger," she said, "We have seen the statement, which was outrageously callous but unfortunately consistent with the nature of the regime and its rhetoric. I can't condemn it in any stronger terms than that."