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.