hankyoreh

a former North Korean spy convicted of bombing KAL 858 in 1987

Kim Hyun-hee, 47, a former North Korean spy who was convicted of bombing Korean Air flight 858 in 1987, met the brother and son of Yaeko Taguchi, a Japanese woman allegedly abducted to North Korea decades ago, in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday. The meeting was Kim’s first public appearance since 1991, when she held a press conference after receiving a presidential pardon for her death sentence related to the bombing. In 1997, she gave a special lecture for prosecutors in charge of public security nationwide.

At around 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, Kim met Shigeo lizuka, Taguchi’s now 70-year-old brother who heads a group of Japanese families whose relatives were abducted to North Korea, and Taguchi’s now 32-year-old son, Koichiro Iizuka, who was adopted by Taguchi’s brother, at a second-floor convention hall at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center in the Haeundae district. After greeting one another, they moved to an undisclosed site and talked for about 80 minutes.

In a recent interview with the Japanese media, Kim expressed her desire to meet the family of Taguchi, who was allegedly abducted to North Korea in 1978. Kim says she learned Japanese language from Taguchi as part of her spy training.

In a press conference with Taguchi’s brother and son, Kim said, “I heard about Taguchi when I was at the North’s Chodaeso [a guesthouse] between January and October 1987. They told me that Taguchi was sent somewhere. I didn’t know where it was, but I understood she wasn’t dead.”

Kim also spoke about Megumi Yokota, another Japanese civilian allegedly abducted to North Korea. Kim said Megumi “taught the Japanese language to North Korean agent Kim Sook-hee,” adding, “I heard she married a North Korean in 1987 and gave birth to a daughter. I can’t believe the North when they say that Megumi is dead.”

Asked about another recent interview with a Korean media outlet, in which she claimed she was pressured by the administration of former President Roh Moo-hyun and the National Intelligence Service, she replied, “It’s not so appropriate to talk specifically about that at this point. The incumbent administration is said to be investigating what happened, and I’m waiting for the results,” Kim said.

On Nov. 28, 1987, Kim and another male operative planted a bomb on Korean Air flight 858 en route from Baghdad to Seoul. They boarded the plane during a stopover in Abu Dhabi, put the bomb in an overhead compartment and escaped to Bahrain, where they were arrested. All 115 passengers were killed in the resulting explosion.

Kim published a memoir about her experiences in December 1997. She later gave the royalties from the book’s sale to the victims’ families in a pre-arranged meeting in which she apologized for her actions.

Regarding the bombing of the civilian airliner, Kim said, “Most of the victims’ families say that the incident was committed by the North.”

Koichiro Iizuka, Taguchi’s son, said, “Through this meeting with Kim, I have come to be confident that my mother is alive, which gives me new hope that the abductees can be rescued. In the future, I expect South Korea and Japan to focus their efforts on the abduction issue.”

The meeting between Kim and Taguchi’s brother and son was arranged after Kim had expressed a desire to “meet the son of Taguchi, who was my Japanese-language teacher, to talk to him about his mother.” Koichiro Iizuka then sent a letter to the Japanese foreign ministry, expressing his desire to meet Kim. Shigeo lizuka adopted Taeguchi’s son after she was allegedly abducted to North Korea in June 1978.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]