Assassination of Park Chung Hee

Aftermath[edit]

After killing Park, Kim Jae-gyu asked Chief Secretary Kim Gye-won to secure the safe house and ran to the nearby KCIA building, where Army Chief of Staff Jeong Seung-hwa was waiting. While Jeong was having a meal with KCIA Deputy Director Kim Jeong-seop at a restaurant next to his office and talking about the Busan-Masan Uprising and the issue of building a housing development for noncommissioned officers, about 20 gunshots were suddenly fired nearby. Kim Jae-gyu, who was wearing a blood-stained shirt,^[43] came in to tell them that an emergency situation had arisen.^[44] Kim Gye-won had the KCIA agents who were still in the safe house carry Park on his back and take him to the President's private car and head to the army hospital where the president's medical facilities were located.^[45]


Later, at around 8:05 p.m.^[16] in a car with Jeong Seung-hwa, Kim Jae-gyu notified Jeong that Park had died, but without explaining how. At this time, Kim Jae-gyu raised his thumb to indicate that Park had been shot. When Jeong saw this, he asked if Park had passed away, and Kim Jae-gyu answered that he was certain that Park had passed away.^[45] And Kim Jae-gyu says that if Kim Il-sung finds out, the ceasefire line will be a problem and there will be bloodshed in the country, so security must be maintained and martial law must be declared quickly.^[43] Then Kim Jae-gyu peeled the candy and ate it, saying his mouth was dry. Jeong sees that Kim Jae-gyu is wearing socks and no shoes, so Kim's out of his mind.^[24] Kim Jae-gyu hoped that Jeong and Chief Secretary Kim would support him in the coup, as both had been appointed to their positions on his recommendation and Chief Secretary Kim was especially close to Jeong. The car initially headed to KCIA Headquarters, in Namsan district, but eventually went to army headquarters, in Yongsan District, since the army would have to be involved in declaring emergency martial law.^[45] As the car passed in front of the Military Manpower Administration, Kim Jae-gyu gave Jeong a square cinnamon candy, and he tried to eat it, but secretly threw it on the floor, suspecting that it contained poison and could be used by him.^[43]


There is an opinion that the situation might have been different if Kim Jae-gyu had gone to the KCIA headquarters, where he would be in control, instead of the headquarters at this time.^[28] However, Kim Jae-gyu's failure to gain Jeong's support sealed the fate of the conspirators.^[24]


Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Kim Kye-won took Park's body to the Army hospital and ordered doctors to save him at all costs (without revealing Park's identity).^[46] At 8 p.m., Major Song Gye-yong, who was the commanding officer on duty, made an urgent call to Air Force Brigadier General Kim Byeong-soo, head of the hospital who was Park's attending physician since 1974, saying, "A patient with a gunshot wound has been evacuated, but he is D.O.A. (Death on Arrival)." Kim Byeong-soo, not knowing that the emergency patient was the President, said, "If you are D.O.A., why are you contacting me? You should contact the morgue at Capital Hospital and make preparations." Kim Byeong-soo rushed to work at 8:20 p.m. and rushed to the emergency room for an autopsy, but was found in front of the door. Entry was blocked by KCIA agents guarding the area, and Kim Byeong-soo eventually went up to the hospital director's office, changed into his military uniform, and when his identity was confirmed, entry was not blocked and he was able to enter the emergency room. Moreover, suspicions were further amplified when Chief of Staff Kim Gye-won was contacted and told to "respectfully take the patient to the president's hospital room." Kim Byeong-soo said that when he went in, he thought he was just an emergency patient, but when he went in, he saw that the patient's face was covered with a white towel. Kim Byeong-soo asked the bodyguards who he was, but they only answered that they didn't know. Kim Byeong-soo said they needed to know who he was, so in the end, the bodyguard lowered the towel halfway and showed only the right half. Later, Kim Byeong-soo only showed the left half to show that it was President Park Chung-hee, but Kim only saw half of his face for the first time, so he didn't recognize Park. At 8:30 p.m, when Kim Byeong-soo took off the patient's shirt to check for gunshot wounds, he saw a white spot on Park's abdomen and only then did he realize that he was the president. However, Kim Byeong-soo did not show the security guard that he knew that the dead person was President Park Chung-hee, because it was such a huge thing.^[47]


At around 8:40 p.m, since the Armed Forces Capital Hospital, the hospital where Kim Byeong-soo is located, was under the jurisdiction of the Security Command, he decided to contact Security Command Commander Chun Doo-hwan, thinking that even if the President was dead, the body would have to be guarded. The bodyguard stayed close to Kim Byeong-soo and watched his every move. Kim Byeong-soo went into the medical director's office and called Chun, but failed to tell him that the president was dead due to the security guard's surveillance, and returned to his room. At around 8:50 p.m, while Kim Byeong-soo was thinking about somehow informing the security headquarters that the President had died, Brigadier General Woo Kuk-il, the Chief of Staff of the Security Command, called. Woo asked Kim Byeong-soo to just answer what he said and asked whether he had passed away, whether he was Chief Cha, or whether he was Code 1. Kim Byeong-su answers the phone and answers only three words: 'yes, no, yes.' At this time, when the bodyguard asked what phone call he had made, Kim Byeong-soo said he asked, "Is everything okay?" and said, "Yes." He asked, "Are you in danger?" and asked, "No." He said, "I will protect you well, so don't worry." and said, "Yes." "I answered," he said. It was at that time that the security command knew for sure that the president had died. Kim Byeong-soo named only a few of those who had been summoned in an emergency to maintain security and sent all the rest home. At around 9:20 p.m, Kim Byeong-soo finished taking x-rays of the size of the wounds and gunshot wounds on the body in the emergency room and moved the body to the president's room in the hospital. The bodyguards were keeping Kim Byeong-soo immobile.^[47]


After confirming that Park had already died, Kim Gye-won, who went to the Blue House, also urgently contacted key ministers. Kim Gye-won then went to Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah to reveal what happened that night, and he said martial law must be declared. Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah arrived first, followed by ministers. Afterwards, Kim Jae-gyu, who was in the headquarters bunker, and Kim Gye-won, who was at the Blue House, spoke on the phone, and it appears that they asked each other to come to their side. In the end, Chief of Staff Kim Gye-won said to Prime Minister Choi Gyu-hah, "Let's go to the headquarters bunker," and he and his ministers arrived at the headquarters bunker at around 9:30 p.m.^[28]


At the Ministry of National Defense, an emergency cabinet meeting held in the headquarters conference room, Kim Jae-gyu hides the fact that Park is dead and says that since His Excellency is currently in exile, this fact must be kept under security for at least 48 hours and martial law must be declared quickly, and if Kim Il-sung finds out, it will be a big problem. However, contrary to Kim Jae-gyu's expectations, the State Council members, including Deputy Prime Minister Shin Hyeon-hwak, protested. Justice Minister Kim Chi-yeol refuted this by saying that such a serious situation cannot be hidden for 48 hours through security for no reason, and that the United States should also be informed of this fact. It makes no sense for Deputy Prime Minister Shin Hyun-hwak, who arrived late at the headquarters, to suddenly impose martial law on Kim Jae-gyu, and the whole story is unknown as to what happened. He protested by saying that before Shin Hyeon-hwak arrived at the headquarters, other ministers were in a state of trembling due to Kim Jae-gyu's momentum, but when the State Council members strongly opposed Kim Jae-gyu's intention to declare martial law while hiding the fact that the president was assassinated was frustrated.^[48] Finally, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Seong-jin and others protested and demanded a suspension, and the cabinet meeting was suspended. As Kim Gye-won watched the State Council members protesting, he realized before anyone else that there was nothing behind Kim Jae-gyu and that he had no special plans in mind, and decided to reveal the truth.^[49]


At around 11:40 p.m, Chief Secretary Kim Gye-won secretly told Jeong who is the Army Chief of Staff and the Minister of National Defense Noh Jae-hyun^[49] that Kim Jae-gyu was the culprit. At 11:40 p.m, when Jeong learned of what happened from Chief Secretary Kim Gye-won, he ordered Major General Chun Doo-hwan, commander of Security Command, to take Director Kim into custody and investigate the incident. A cabinet meeting was held at around 11:50 p.m, and Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah did not mention that the President had died. 'A serious situation concerning national security has occurred. That's why we convened a cabinet meeting,' that's all he said. Even then, many members of the State Council were unaware that the President had died.^[28]


Shortly after 12:30 a.m. on the October 27, Kim Jae-gyu was arrested after he was lured to a secluded area outside army headquarters on the pretext of meeting with Jeong.^[50][28] At around 1:20 a.m. on October 27, State Council members went to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital to confirm President Park's death. Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah, Deputy Prime Minister Shin Hyun-hwak, Minister Kim Chi-yeol, Minister Kim Seong-jin, and Chief of Staff Kim Gye-won arrived at the hospital together. After crying and mourning, they return.^[47]


Around 1:30 a.m. after the State Council members left, the security agency launched an operation to arrest the central government agents who were monitoring Kim Byeong-su, and succeeded in arresting the two people. Their arrest operation was led by Lee Sang-yeon, head of the National Security Agency's inspection office. After hearing the news of President Park's death around 2:00 a.m. his second daughter, Park Geun-young, came to visit. She too wailed. Her bodyguards who followed her were her security agents. Before putting new clothes on Park's body, Kim Byeong-su tried to remove the bullet lodged in the left side of Park's face, but his family opposed it, so he left it alone. They demanded that Kim Byeong-su "not put a knife to his father's face." Around 3:00 a.m, Kim Byeong-soo moved Park's body to the Blue House. Park Geun-hye also held President Park's body and wailed loudly.^[47]


The Cabinet meeting resumed. At around 3:45 a.m, it was decided on the spot to declare martial law, and martial law was declared in all regions except Jeju Island, this is because if the entire country is declared a martial law area, all administrative authority is concentrated in the martial law commander. This is because the martial law commander, i.e. the Army Chief of Staff, can receive command and supervision from the Minister of National Defense.^[28][51]


Early morning on October 27, 1979, safe house in Gungjeong-dong. Lee Ki-ju, who is the same age as security guard Yoo Seok-sul, came urgently carrying something. Lee tells Yoo to take a pistol, a few shell casings, and the slippers Kim Jae-gyu was wearing and hide them in the garden.^[24]


At 7 a.m, while people were confirming the death of Cha, who died at the scene on October 26, they confirmed that bodyguard Park Sang-beom was alive and rescued him.^[47]


At 8 a.m, according to a radio broadcast by Tongyang Broadcasting Company, announce that an accidental conflict occurred between KCIA Director Kim Jae-gyu and Security Chief Cha Ji-cheol, and President Park Chung-hee died after being hit by a bullet fired by Kim, and Kim was detained by martial law forces and investigated.^[24]


Eventually, everyone involved in the assassination was arrested, tortured and later executed. In the process, Chun Doo-hwan emerged as a new political force by investigating and subordinating KCIA under his Security Command, and Jeong Seung-hwa became the chief martial law administrator. Later, when Chun Doo-hwan seized power in the Coup d'état of December Twelfth 1979,^[52][50][53] he had Jeong Seung-hwa and Chief Secretary Kim arrested on suspicion of conspiring with Director Kim.^[54]


The Joint Investigation Headquarters ordered the women who attended the President's dinner to use the pseudonyms of Sohn Geum-ja (Korean: 손금자; Hanja: 孫錦子) (Sim Soo-bong) and Jeong Hye-seon (Korean: 정혜선; Hanja: 鄭惠善) (Shin Jae-soon), but the real names were circulated among people and eventually turned out to be true.^[55]