Attack on U.S. Ambassador 'Carefully Planned'

Police have concluded that the assailant of U.S. ambassador Mark Lippert carefully planned the attack and intended to murder the envoy. They sent the case to prosecutors on Friday.

In a press conference on Friday, police said Kim has been charged with attempted murder, assault and obstructing work.

Based on Kim's past behavior and searches of his office, phone records and other information, police believe his motive was hatred of America. Kim confessed that he "harbored anti-American feelings and felt the ambassador symbolized the U.S.," a police spokesman said.

Police said evidence shows Kim carefully planned his attack. On March 2, when the joint South Korea-U.S. military drills began, Kim spent about an hour searching through Lippert's blog and looking up information about the ambassador and the military exercises.

Police said he also searched for pictures of Lippert with U.S. President Barack Obama to estimate his target's height.

The fact that he searched the topic "criminal law" suggests he looked up information about the possible repercussions of his plan, police said.

Police concluded Kim had murderous intent judging by the intensity of his knife thrust, which punctured Lippert's left arm and left an 11 cm gash on his face.

Kim claims he had no intention of killing Lippert and merely wanted to harm him.