Park Chung Hee assassination
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The assassination of Park Chung Hee, the former president of South Korea, occurred on October 26, 1979 at a secret house in the Blue House compound connected with Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) in Gungjeong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea, at 7:41pm. It is simply known as "10.26" or the "10.26 incident" in South Korea.
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[edit] Assassination
KCIA director Kim Jae-kyu invited Park to a dinner at a KCIA building in the Blue House compound. After Park and guests were seated, Kim Jae-kyu left the dining room to convene with his co-conspirators. Kim reentered the room, pulled a .38 revolver, shot a bodyguard of the president, and then fired several shots at Park. Upon hearing the shots, five armed KCIA agents stormed the room and adjacent rooms to kill two of the president's security detail and his driver.
[edit] Those involved in assassination
- Kim Jae-kyu: Hanged on May 24, 1980
- Park Heung-ju: Executed by firing squad on March 6, 1980
- Park Seon-ho, a KCIA agent and a longtime friend of Kim Jae-kyu : Hanged on May 24, 1980
- Yoo Seong-ok, a driver in the secret house: Hanged on May 24, 1980
- Lee Ki-ju, head of secret house security service: Hanged on May 24, 1980
- Kim Tae-won, secret house security agent: Hanged on May 24, 1980
- Seo Young-jun, secret house security agent: Released after imprisonment
[edit] Possible motivations of assassination
Kim Jae-kyu testified in court:
I shot the heart of Yusin Constitution like a beast. I did that for democracy of this country. Nothing more nothing less.
Another interesting note: shortly after shooting president Park, Kim Jae-kyu allegedly made frequent and desperate inquiries as to whether the "American CIA" have attempted to contact him yet. This lead to a possible conspiracy theory involving CIA.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
- The President's Last Bang: a movie describing the event
[edit] External links
- BBC News' "On this day": a recollection of Park's assassination.
