In November 1987, a South Korean airliner was blown up over Burmese waters, leaving 115 passengers and crew on board dead.
The murderer was a female agent from North Korea, Kim Hyun-hee. At only 23 years old, she boarded the plane that was destined to explode with her so-called "father" with a fake Japanese identity. They then hurriedly disembarked at the Abu Dhabi airport, leaving behind a time bomb.
A series of investigations ensued after the incident, and Kim Hyun-hee was eventually arrested in Bahrain. Faced with life and death, she tried to commit suicide by taking poison, but failed, leaving her to be the only one alive. Despite facing the death penalty, Kim Hyun-hee was unexpectedly pardoned by South Korea's new president and continues to live in South Korea, causing countless speculations.
After many years, Kim Hyun-hee is still alive, but the shadow she brought has not yet dissipated.
There are many spies
In 1987, the shadow of the Cold War still loomed over the world. Espionage activities in various countries have become more and more frequent, so a seemingly ordinary civil aircraft bombing incident will become the focus of international politics, and even lead to a series of international controversies.
On November 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858 departed from Baghdad, Iraq, with a destination of Seoul, South Korea. There were 115 passengers and crew on board, most of whom were expecting a safe landing in Seoul without knowing that this would be their last flight.
The plane was scheduled for a short layover in Abu Dhabi, UAE, before continuing on to its destination. Everything looks normal about this plane, but what lies behind it is an elaborate conspiracy.
Kim Hyun-hee, a North Korean woman born in 1964, grew up in a family of diplomats, spent her childhood with her parents in consulates abroad, and received a high-quality and rigorous education from an early age.
Despite her superior background and educational background, due to the needs of the country, Kim Hyun-hee's life is no longer in her own hands. North Korea's secret services noticed her potential early on and included her in the state's secret service program.
In the spy training, Kim Hyun-hee undergoes various trainings including weapon use, blasting techniques, combat skills, etc., and her beauty and intelligence also make her stand out from the crowd.
In addition to her training, she was taught several languages, including Japanese and Cantonese, so that she could move between different countries in stealth and without attracting attention.
Kim Hyun-hee's first important mission was to travel to various countries to gather intelligence with another North Korean agent, Kim Sung-il, posing as father and daughter. Kim is an experienced spy who has flown a number of dangerous missions for North Korea.
On their mission, they ostensibly were a pair of ordinary Japanese tourists, but in reality they had elaborate bombs and various spy equipment in their luggage.
In October 1987, Kim Hyun-hee and Kim Sung-il received a new order to carry out a major sabotage operation against South Korea. The purpose of this operation was to undermine the 24th Summer Olympic Games, which would be held in South Korea in 1988, and to weaken South Korea's international image and influence.
To that end, they planned to detonate a passenger plane in the air of South Korea, causing heavy casualties in order to attract international attention.
To implement this plan, Kim Hyun-hee and Kim Sung-il took Flight 858 from Baghdad to Seoul one day in November 1987. Before the plane took off, they had brought bottles containing liquid explosives onto the plane and set up a timer to ensure that the bomb would detonate in the middle of the flight after they left the plane.
When the plane docked in Abu Dhabi, Kim Hyun-hee and Kim Seung got off the plane as planned. They quickly left the transit area and headed to the waiting area outside the airport to prepare for the next flight to another location to make sure they weren't at the scene when the plane exploded.
Shortly after the plane took off from Abu Dhabi, the bomb in the bottle exploded as scheduled, disintegrating in mid-air, killing all 115 passengers and crew on board. And this incident quickly attracted widespread attention from the international community and became news headlines.
After completing their mission, Kim Hyun-hee and Kim Sung-il quickly fled the scene and hid to wait for further instructions. Unbeknownst to them, the clues they left behind had caught the attention of Interpol and the South Korean police.
And this seemingly perfect sabotage plan ushered in a follow-up that none of them expected.
Escape & Pursuit
In the aftermath of the Korean Air Flight 858 bombing, Interpol and the Korean National Police Agency quickly joined forces to launch a cross-border investigation.
Investigators first reviewed the plane's passenger list, tracking down those who disembarked at Abu Dhabi airport. The fake Japanese passports used by Kim Hyun-hee and Kim Sung-il quickly caught the attention of the police because of the suspicious details of the passports.
After urgently contacting the Japanese authorities, investigators confirmed that the two passports were forged. At this point, police began issuing international manhunt notices for the two passengers, while the investigation team analysed CCTV footage from their Abu Dhabi airport and found that they appeared to be very anxious as they left in a hurry.
Kim Hyun-hee and Kim Sung-il quickly turned to Bahrain after the plane landed, from where they were expected to fly to Rome.
They were filmed at the Bahrain airport in the final footage, showing them chatting quickly near the gate, seemingly discussing their next move. The police theorized that they may have realized that the focus of the investigation was rapidly moving closer to them.
A joint Interpol and South Korean police team has deployed undercover observers at the airport. When Kim Sung-il and Kim Hyun-hee tried to approach the boarding gate, they were urgently intercepted by a group of covert security personnel.
In the midst of a fierce standoff, Kim suddenly pulls out a poison capsule from his clothes, bites it and dies on the spot, his death leading to the interruption of an important thread in the investigation.
At the same time, Kim Hyun-hee also wanted to commit suicide by taking poison, but was discovered by the police, who pulled the poison out of Kim Hyun-hee's mouth, and Kim Hyun-hee's suicide failed, and then she was arrested.
The South Korean police and Interpol quickly removed her from the scene and began to interrogate her closely. She was secretly transferred to the Namsan underground interrogation room in Seoul, which is the site used by the South Korean police to deal with major cases.
During the interrogation, Kim initially insisted that she was innocent, that she was Chinese, and that she was from the Heilongjiang Wuchang. He has the identity of the Japanese "Mayumi Minetani" because the dead Kim Moriichi (Shinchi Minetani) was his Japanese adoptive father and claimed to know nothing about any terrorist activities.
The police used a variety of tactics, including linguists and behavioral analysis experts, to crack down on the fake identity she had constructed. Through continued questioning, the police have a lot of evidence, including records of her activities with Kim Sheng-il in various countries, and Kim Hyun-hee finally confesses her true identity and her mission as a North Korean spy.
During the interrogation, investigators also uncovered detailed records of Kim Hyun-hee's espionage training, as well as records of her multiple international travels, which further confirmed her identity as a spy.
These findings were used as key evidence in her prosecution. At the same time, international attention to the case is growing, and the resentment and fear of such international terrorism has prompted the South Korean government to provide a clear response.
Finally, on January 15, 1988, the South Korean government held a press conference in Seoul about the bombing.
Kim Hyun-hee was brought to the venue under tight security and publicly appeared in front of the world media and the public. In front of the camera, she detailed her mission and the specific actions she took to participate in the tragedy.
amnesty
Kim Hyun-hee's public admission to being a spy and his involvement in sabotage at a press conference in January 1988 sparked small outrage around the world.
In particular, in South Korea, in the face of both domestic and international pressures, the South Korean government must not only give a satisfactory result to the international community, but also appease the sentiments of the domestic people, and must demonstrate its own determination and strength in dealing with such major security incidents.
In 1989, Kim Hyun-hee said that she regretted her participation in the bombing of the plane that year.
On March 27, 1990, Kim Hyun-hee was tried by the Seoul Court in South Korea. With sufficient evidence and Kim Hyun-hee's own confession, Kim Hyun-hee was found directly responsible for the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 and was sentenced to death for violating the National Security Act and the Aviation Act.
But Kim Hyun-hee's calm performance in the trial has caused widespread discussion about her personality and motives at home and abroad.
However, on April 12, 1990, then-South Korean President Roh Tae-woo signed an amnesty decree that exempted Kim Hyun-hee from the death penalty. The reason given by Roh Tae-woo for the amnesty was: "She is the only survivor who can refute that 'the incident was fabricated', and it is in the good interest of the country to keep her alive." ”
The argument is not convincing, and many have questioned whether it is a political strategy, especially in the run-up to the 1991 Asian Games, South Korea's upcoming major international event.
Although the death penalty was averted, Kim Hyun-hee was not immediately released. She was placed in a high-surveillance facility and continued to be investigated, while the South Korean government imposed severe restrictions on her movement and interactions.
The presence of Kim Hyun-hee became a sensitive topic.
After being pardoned, Kim Hyun-hee was placed to live in an undisclosed location in Seoul, where every detail of her life was closely monitored by South Korean intelligence agencies. During this time, she was also forbidden to conduct any unauthorized communication with the outside world, and her range of movement and social activities were strictly controlled.
Even if Kim Hyun-hee does not appear in public, it does not mean that she disappears from public view, on the contrary, her existence has become a constant focus and topic of discussion in Korean society.
Some South Koreans, especially conservative groups, continue to express dissatisfaction and protest against her amnesty, believing that it is a great injustice to the families of the victims.
In the years that followed, Kim gradually became involved in a number of government-monitored public events, especially those aimed at honoring and mourning the victims of Flight 858. Her appearances on these occasions, although under strict surveillance, have sparked widespread media coverage and a fierce response from the public.
Despite Kim Hyun-hee's amnesty, her life has not returned to normal and she is not free. Later, Kim Hyun-hee published a book, "Now, as a Woman", which became a bestseller in both Korea and Japan, and was later made into a movie.
In December 1997, Kim Hyun-hee secretly married a former South Korean Ministry of Security and Enterprise official who had participated in her investigation at the time, and lived the life of an "ordinary housewife" in South Korea.
epilogue
On November 29, 1987, the mid-air bombing of Korean Air Lines Flight 858 became a major international incident at the end of the Cold War.
The actions of Kim Hyun-hee, a North Korean female agent, and her accomplice, Kim Sung-il, led to the tragic deaths of 115 people.
In the follow-up, Kim Hyun-hee was pardoned by the South Korean president in 1990, avoiding the death penalty, despite being directly responsible for the loss of as many as 115 lives.
This decision has caused widespread controversy and criticism at home and abroad, and has also led many to question whether it is the result of political manipulation.
Resources:
Kim Hyun-hee (former North Korean agent)_Baidu Encyclopedia (baidu.com)
https://payc.baidu.com/item/%E9%87%91%E8%B4%A4%E5%A7%AC/5761494?Anker=4#4
Kim Hyun-hee, a former North Korean beauty spy, visited Japan and caused a plane crash in which 100 people died
http://news.k.com/a/20100721/000201. Hatma