Seoul Admits Involvement In Kidnapping Of Former President
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Seoul, South Korea (AHN) - For the first time, the South Korean government has admitted that its spy agency was responsible for the 1973 abduction of Kim Dae-Jung in Tokyo, the pro-democracy activist who later became the country's president and recipient of the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize. But Seoul said it would not re-open the case or punish those involved which include high-profile names such as Lee Hoo Rhak, the chief of the Korea Central Intelligence Agency, now remodeled into the National Intelligence Service; Kim Dong Woon, then first secretary at the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo; and Park Chung Hee, the president at that time. The Asahi Shimbun reports that the findings, which will soon be released to the public, found Lee had instructed at least 20 KCIA agents to abduct Kim, who had exiled himself to Japan. Although the report was not able to establish Park's direct participation, it said there is no evidence to deny his involvement. Kim, who was South Korea's president from 1997 to 2003, was abducted in broad daylight on August 8, 1973 while he was staying at the Hotel Grand Palace in Tokyo. He was then a prominent pro-democracy activist and was seen as a threat to Park's presidency. He was taken to a boat and thought his abductors had planned to kill him. Five days later he was released near his residence in Seoul, covered with cuts and bruises |
