AKIPRESS.COM - Mark Lippert, the US ambassador to South Korea who was slashed at a breakfast meeting last week, has been discharged from hospital in Seoul.

Mr Lippert suffered gashes to his face and hand when he was attacked by a knife-wielding Korean nationalist, reports BBC.

He told reporters before he was discharged that the US mission to be "open and friendly" would not change.

The attacker, Kim Ki-jong, was tackled at the scene - he has denied charges of attempted murder.

Doctors said the ambassador had had 80 stitches from his face removed and that the pain in his wrist had subsided.

They said the cuts would have been life-threatening had they been deeper.

Mr Lippert, 42, said on Tuesday that he expected to make a full recovery and return to work as soon as possible.

"I feel pretty darn good, all things considered. I mean it was obviously a scary incident," he said at a news conference held with heavy security presence at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital.