The American ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was injured in an assault during a breakfast speech in Seoul but that his injuries were not life threatening.
Still photographs showed Lippert bleeding after he was slashed in the face by an unidentified assailant at a breakfast forum.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Lippert was being treated at a hospital.
US President Barack Obama called Lippert to wish him a speedy recovery, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said.