Car crashes into US Embassy gates in South Korea's capital

ByJOOHEE CHO ABCNews logo
Thursday, June 7, 2018

SEOUL, South Korea -- A car crashed into the gate of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, police said Thursday.

South Korean police told ABC News the driver was not drunk but declined to share further details about the incident. The investigation is ongoing.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the driver is a 48-year-old man who allegedly told police he drove into the U.S. Embassy gate because he has "stories related to North Korea" and wants to "seek asylum in the United States."

The driver claimed he was a government employee, according to Yonhap. A woman who was in the passenger seat of the car was reportedly transported to a local hospital.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State told ABC News in a statement, "We can confirm that an incident involving a motor vehicle occurred at the Embassy's front gate this evening. As an investigation is currently ongoing, we have no further details to share at this time."

ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.

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