Kim Dae-jung demands answers about his 1973 kidnapping

Posted on : 2007-03-10 14:43 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Fact-finding commission has kept mum about investigation

Former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung urged the South Korean and Japanese governments to completely clarify the truth surrounding his kidnapping in Tokyo in 1973, at a time when he was an opposition leader criticizing the Park Chung-hee dictatorship. The former president also asked for an apology from both governments.

Kim said the commission tasked with clarifying events that occurred under the auspices of Korea’s National Intelligence Service was being too slow in investigating his kidnapping.

Kim was kidnapped from his Tokyo hotel on August 8, 1973. He was staying there while working on bringing democracy to Korea after exiling himself from his native country in 1971. Several men alleged to be Korean agents took him to Osaka and later to Busan on Korea’s southern coast by boat. While on board the vessel, the kidnappers attached weights to his feet, but later abandoned their assassination plans. He was released in front of his home in Seoul several days after he was initially taken.

At a press conference on March 9, Choi Gyeong-hwan, Kim’s aide, disclosed the transcript of a Feburary 15 interview with Kyoto News Agency.

During the February 15 interview with the Japanese news agency, Kim said, "I heard that the government is delaying the announcement of the investigation due to a diplomatic problem with the Japanese government. I told the officials of the fact-finding commission, ‘I won’t allow you to compromise your announcement of the truth surrounding the abduction. I can’t endure it. It is a betrayal of history and of the South Korean people.’ "

The fact-finding commission in February 2005 announced it would begin to investigate "seven major allegations," including the abduction of the former president. The fact-finding body revealed by August last year the investigation or mid-term investigation results from six of the seven cases, but has so far not said anything about Kim’s kidnapping case.

Some have alleged the situation is due to "direct and indirect pressure" from the Japanese government about the fact-finding activities of the committee, as well as a negative attitude about the investigation from Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) and possible future presidential candidate. Park Geun-hye is a daughter of former president Park, who, according to Kim, masterminded the abduction.

In the February 15 interview, Kim said, "As the then-leader of South Korea did wrong and Japan also dealt with the incident in a compromising manner, the two nations should be honest to their citizens and the world for their past wrongdoings and apologize for their mistakes." "Now, about three decades after the abduction, incumbent administrations of the two nations are not directly resposible for the kidnapping. Nevertheless, if the commission continues to try to cover up the incident without announcing the results of the investigation, how can these two countries be called democracies?" Kim said.

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

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