Park Chung-hee assassination

The assassination of Park Chung-hee, then president of South Korea, occurred on October 26, 1979 at a secret house in the Cheong Wa Dae ("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.

The assassination

KCIA director Kim Jae-kyu invited Park to a dinner at a KCIA building in the Cheong Wa Dae 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 an automatic pistol, shot and killed the chief bodyguard of the president, Cha Ji-cheol, 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. The weapon that was used for the assassination was a Walther PPK.

KCIA conspirators

• 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

Witnesses

• Kim Gye-won: chief secretariat
• Sim Soo-bong: famous female singer
• Shin Jae-soon: college student of Hanyang University

Possible motivations

Kim Jae-kyu testified in court:

See also

• The President's Last Bang: a movie describing the event
• ‎Jeong Seung-hwa

External links

• BBC News' "On this day": a recollection of Park's assassination.