The government and civilian sectors are set to begin a full-scale joint investigation of controversial incidents in the history of Korea’s intelligence services. They include the destruction of KAL 858 in 1987, the National Democratic Young Student League - People's Revolutionary Party incident in which 23 suspected leftists were arrested in 1974, the 1967 kidnapping of dissidents from Germany, the disappearance of former Korean Central Intelligence Agency(KCIA) director Kim Hyung-wook in 1979, the kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung in 1973, extortion involving the Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation in 1962, and the South Korean Workers Party Central Region Branch incident of 1992.
A fact-finding committee led by the Rev. Oh Choong-il announced at NIS headquarters in Seoul's Seocho-dong it was prioritizing the seven incidents. The committee will spend the next two years trying to establish whether the events were setups by South Korean intelligence.
"Not wanting to hide our shameful past, we have started this painful work and are ready to face the truth... We shall be able to open the doors to a new era through acknowledging the truth, forgiveness and reconciliation,” Oh said. "I hope all citizens encourage and show love for the NIS for the pain and courage of seeking rebirth by facing history and confessing the truth."
The committee said that of all the suspicious incidents directly or indirectly involving South Korean intelligence, it prioritized those which appeared most suspicious to society, civic groups and the families of victims. The committee will seek confessions from those involved. It will focus on NIS material but also plans to look for cooperation from other agencies like the police, prosecutors and the Defense Security Command.
The committee said the case of the kidnappings from Germany was chosen because it was representative of the way the military regime at the time used the National Security Law and Anti-Communist Law to undermine human rights and suppress anti-government activity.
In the People's Revolutionary Party incident, patriotically motivated student demonstrations against Park Chung-hee's Yushin regime were denounced as the work of subversives - an abuse of power that galvanized civic movements. The committee decided on Kim Dae-jung's kidnapping as a representative example of the political kidnappings and attempted murders of the time.
The committee’s decision to prioritize the Scholarship Fund case is already making waves. In the incident, the KCIA forced Busan businessman Kim Ji-tae to cede a trust fund to the state following Park Chung-hee's 1961 coup. The fund, now renamed the Jeongsu Scholarship Fund, is currently administered by Park’s daughter, Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye.
The disappearance of former KCIA director Kim Hyung-wook has also generated much interest. All aspects of his disappearance are shrouded in mystery. Since 7:00 p.m. Oct. 7, 1979, when Kim was last seen in Paris, no trace of the former intelligence chief has been found.
Rumors, on the other hand, are rife, and include claims that Kim was killed by a KCIA agent and dumped in the River Seine, that he was kidnapped to Seoul and murdered, and that president Park Chung-hee shot him himself. The only way to resolve the mystery is to investigate the NIS itself, something that has now become possible. If records or those involved in the incident still remain in today's NIS, the 26-year veil of mystery will at last be lifted from Kim's disappearance. However, it is possible that no clues will be found.
The committee said Thursday there were suspicions that several figures close to president Park had Kim kidnapped and murdered to prevent him from blowing the whistle on government corruption in his memoirs. The head of the KCIA at the time was Kim Jae-kyu, the man who would soon after assassinate president Park.
The committee said the main purpose of the probe was to find systemic checks that would prevent future human rights abuses, abuses of power, and crimes by state agencies.
