United States ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert was attacked in Seoul Thursday, South Korean media reported.

Lippert was attacked around 7:40 a.m. Thursday morning while giving a lecture at the Sejong Ceter for Performing Arts in Seoul – across the street from the U.S. Embassy – by an assailant armed with a 25cm-long fruit knife.

He was immediately transported to Gangbuk Samsung Hospital. Lippert was bleeding from injuries to the right side of his face and his right wrist. According to witnesses, he had a roughly 5cm cut on the side of his face.

The attacker, identified only