

By Lee Han-soo

The apparent assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, by the North has sharpened the edge of fading memories of the regime's brutal terrorist attacks on South Korea.

Here is a list of major assassinations and terrorist attacks the North has engineered since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War to get rid of important figures or organizations in the South.





Kim Shin-jo being arrested by South Korean Military Police. / Korea Times file



1. Cheong Wa Dae raid

On Jan. 21, 1968, 31 elite North Korean commandos infiltrated the South in an attempt to assassinate then South Korean President Park Chung-hee. The plot failed after the commandos came across four civilians while travelling to Seoul but let them go after a simple verbal warning. The civilians reported the infiltration to police. Twenty-nine North Korean commandos were killed in a bloody exchange of fire with South Korean troops near the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, with one (Kim Shin-jo) captured and the other (Park Jae-kyung) fleeing to the North.





2. Rangoon bombing

On Oct. 9, 1983, three North Korean agents set up a bomb to assassinate then South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan.The bomb exploded moments before Chun's arrival. The fact he was running late due to traffic saved his life.Seventeen South Korean officials and four Myanmar (then Burma) nationals were killed in the blast. Two agents were killed and one captured.Kang Min-chul confessed to the terror plot and his links to North Korea. Kang served the rest of his life in a Myanmar prison, dying of cancer on May 18, 2008.

Kim Hyon-hui lands in South Korea after being extradited. / Korea Times file



3. Bombing of Korean Air flight 858

On Nov. 29, 1987, Korean Air flight 858 left Baghdad for Seoul. But the plane exploded over the Andaman Sea, killing all 115 passengers and crew. Two North Korea agents placed the bomb in an overhead compartment before leaving the aircraft at its first stop, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The two bombers tried to commit suicide after realizing they were close to being arrested. One succeeded, while the other, Kim Hyon-hui, confessed to the bombing. The United States branded North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism until 2008 because of the blast.

Russian FSB official leaves the Office of the Prosecutor General during the investigation into Choi Duk-kuen's assassination.

/ Korea Times file



4. Assassination of Korean consular official in Russia

On Oct. 1, 1996, Choi Duk-keun, the Korean consular official for the Russian Far East, was assassinated while coming home from work.Though bludgeoning was listed as the official cause of Choi's death, it was proven that he had two small holes on his torso that later were identified as injection sites for the poison that killed him. The poison had the same properties as that carried by North Korean soldiers who infiltrated South Korea in a submarine earlier that year.

5. Assassination of North Korean defectors





Yi Han-yong

North Korea has made several assassination attempts on North Korean defectors. Of these, the assassination of Yi Han-yong is widely known. Yi, the nephew of leader Kim Jong-il's second wife, was assassinated on Feb. 15, 1997. He was shot near his home in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, by two assailants who were never caught. The shooting was linked to North Korea after the bullet that killed Yi was traced to a pistol North Korean Special Forces used. Yi was taken to hospital and kept on life-support, but succumbed to his wounds.