hankyoreh

Korean Air Flight 858 was an international Korean Airlines flight scheduled to fly from Baghdad, Iraq, to Seoul on Nov. 29, 1987. The official story says the plane exploded mid-air when a bomb planted by two North Korean agents detonated, killing everyone on board. One of the agents involved was Kim Hyon-hui. However, there are aspects of the official account of the bombing that bereaved family members of the flight’s victims find questionable.

A group of such family members calling for the reinvestigation of the incident has suggested that Kim was not a North Korean agent but actually an agent for the South Korean military dictatorship under Chun Doo-hwan. The bereaved family members announced their intentions to file a libel suit against Kim, who called such family members “pro-North Korean” and “treacherous,” in front of the Seoul Central District Court on July 23.