Recovering U.S. Ambassador — And Dog Lover — Mark Lippert Offered Dog Meat By Well-Wisher

While U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert recovered from slash wounds he received from an anti-U.S. activist, a well-wisher thought he could use some fresh dog meat to help him heal a little faster.

Lippert is a dog lover, but he loves them in such a way that he keeps them as pets rather than eats them. In fact, Lippert has a basset hound named Grigsby, and before the attack he was frequently seen walking his beloved dog around his home in Seoul.

The 42-year-old envoy to Seoul is staying in Seoul’s Severance Hospital after he received 80 stitches to his face and left hand. The deep wounds damaged nerves and tendons, but Mark is expected to make a full recovery, according to the Associated Press.

However, an elderly man felt the need to offer his sincere well-wishes and some products to Mark Lippert, based on an old South Korean healing practice after surgery. The man offered some dog meat and seaweed soup to some hospital officials to give to Mark, but the hospital would not take the food because it has strict rules to protect its patients’ health and security.

The official who spoke of the elderly man and his offering of dog meat to Mark Lippert did not wish to be identified because he was not allowed to speak to the media.

Mark Lippert may not need the dog meat and seaweed soup after all. Hospital spokesperson Him Whi-yoon said that Lippert’s pain was less intense in the wound on his left hand, and he is expected to stay in the hospital until at least Wednesday. Throughout Monday and Tuesday, Lippert is to have the 80 stitches removed from his face and hand.

The attacker, Kim Ki-jong, may face charges of attempted murder, obstruction, assaulting a foreign envoy, and violating a law that bans praise or assistance for North Korea. The 55-year-old man is known for his unification activities in the past, but his recent drastic behaviors, including setting himself on fire, has isolated him from other activists, according to the Huffington Post.

South Korea President Park Geun-hye called the 10-inch knife attack on Lippert an “intolerable attack on the South Korean-United States alliance.”

Mark Lippert has not commented on the incident which left him with many stitches, pain, and some nerve damage or whether he appreciated the South Korean man’s well-wishes and offering of dog meat and seaweed soup.

[Photo by Handout/Getty Images News]