Mun Se-gwang (26 December 1951 –20 December 1974) was a Japanese-bornNorth Korean sympathizer who attempted to assassinate South Korean presidentPark Chung Hee on 15 August 1974. The assassination attempt resulted in the deaths of Park's wife,Yuk Young-soo,and a high school student,Jang Bong-hwa.
Mun Se-gwang was born to an ethnic Korean family in Osaka,Japan on 26 December 1951. His family had fled from North Korea to Japan shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War.
While in high school,he began studying the biographies of Mao Zedong and Kim Il Sung,and became a supporter of communist beliefs. He communicated with supporters of Juche within the Korean community for several years,coming into contact with North Korean agents who eventually convinced him of the need to eliminate President of the Republic of KoreaPark Chung Hee in order to incite a popular uprising in South Korea.
In November 1973,Mun Se-gwang finally decided to assassinate Park Chung Hee and,was paid 500,000 yen to prepare and implement his plan. In May 1974,he received a fake Japanese passport under the name 'Yuki Kawagami'.
Attempted assassination of Park Chung-hee
Stealing a Smith &Wesson.38-caliber revolver from an Osaka police box on 18 July 1974,he concealed it in his luggage and flew to South Korea on 8 August 1974,[1] using a Japanese passport to enter the country.[2] He then booked into the Chosun Hotel.[1]
Gaining entry to the National Theater in Seoul,on the day of a ceremony celebrating Korea's independence from Japan which was being attended by Park and his wife,Mun intended to shoot Park in the theater lobby. However,his view was obstructed;and he was forced to enter and be seated near the back of the theater. During Park's address,he attempted to get closer to Park but inadvertently fired his revolver prematurely,injuring himself. Having alerted security,Mun then ran down the theater aisle firing wildly.[3] His second bullet hit the left side of the podium from which Park was delivering his speech. His third bullet was a misfire but the fourth struck Park's wife,Yuk Young-soo,in the head,seriously wounding her. His last bullet went through a flag decorating the rear of the stage. A bullet fired by Park Jong-gyu[ko],one of the President's security detail,in response to Mun's attack ricocheted off a wall and killed a high school student,Jang Bong-hwa. Immediately following the capture of Mun,Park resumed his scheduled speech,despite the wounding of his wife and her being carried from the stage. Following its completion,he picked up his wife's handbag and shoes and left. Despite extensive surgery,Yuk died at 7:00p.m. that same day.[1]
During his interrogation,Mun confessed to have been aided in his bid to assassinate Park by an official of a North Korea aligned residents association in Japan. This,and the fact that Mun used a Japanese passport to enter South Korea,strained diplomatic relationships between Japan,North Korea,and South Korea;South Korea concluded that Mun was acting on behalf of North Korea,but Japan refused to accept South Korea's position. Consequently,Park threatened to break off diplomatic relations and to nationalise Japanese assets in South Korea. It required mediation by United States embassy officials before Japan issued a letter of regret,easing tensions between the two countries.[3]
At the same time,North Korean officials made a statement that they were not involved in the assassination attempt,but they approved of it,calling Moon Se-gwang a "real communist."[This quote needs a citation]
Execution
At the trial,Mun Se-gwang also expressed regret that he had failed to kill Park,and that an innocent schoolgirl had died because of his actions. On 17 December 1974,he was found guilty of the attempted assassination resulting in deaths of two people and sentenced to death. Four months after his failed attempt,Mun was executed by hanging in a Seoul prison.[3]
South Korea, as Korea, competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. The nation returned to the Summer Games after participating in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. 175 competitors, 116 men and 59 women, took part in 97 events in 19 sports. As the country hosted the next Olympics in Seoul, a traditional Korean segment was performed at the closing ceremony.
The National Liberation Day of Korea is a public holiday celebrated annually on 15 August in both South and North Korea. It commemorates the day when Korea was liberated from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule by the Allies in 1945. The day also coincides with the anniversary of the founding of South Korea in 1945.
Yuk Young-soo was the wife of the 3rd South Korean president Park Chung Hee and the mother of the 11th South Korean president Park Geun-hye. She was the first lady when Park was in office, from 1962 until she was killed in 1974 during an attempted assassination of her husband.
Park Chung Hee, the third President of South Korea, was assassinated on October 26, 1979, during a dinner at the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) safe house near the Blue House presidential compound in Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea. It was the first assassination of a head of state in South Korea and in Korea in 605 years, since the assassination of Gongmin of Goryeo. Kim Jae-gyu, the director of the KCIA and the president's security chief, was responsible for the assassination. Park was shot in the chest and the head, and died almost immediately. Four bodyguards and a presidential chauffeur were also killed. The incident is often referred to as "10.26" or the "10.26 incident" in South Korea.
The first lady of the Republic of Korea, commonly known as the first lady of South Korea, is the title held by the hostess of the presidential residence, usually the wife of the president of South Korea.
Jeong Seung-hwa was a South Korean general officer, and the 22nd Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Army. He was present at the Blue House presidential compound, site of the assassination of President Park Chung-hee, when it took place on 26 October 1979.
He Who Can't Marry is a 2009 South Korean television series starring Ji Jin-hee, Uhm Jung-hwa, Kim So-eun, Yoo Ah-in and Yang Jung-a. A romantic comedy about an extremely stubborn and inflexible 40-year-old bachelor, it is a remake of the 2006 Japanese drama Kekkon Dekinai Otoko.
5th Republic is a 2005 South Korean drama television series that aired on MBC from April 23 to September 1, 2005, on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:40 (KST) for 41 episodes. It takes place during the 1981–1988 Fifth Republic of South Korea under the dictatorship of President Chun Doo-hwan. It follows his rise to power through a military coup to his downfall after a series of democratic movements, including the Gwangju uprising and the June Democratic Uprising.
Foxy Festival is a 2010 South Korean film with an all-star ensemble cast. It is a character-driven comedy of manners about the discreet sexual lives of a group of interconnected people in an upper-middle class district of Seoul.
May Queen (Korean: 메이퀸) is a 2012 South Korean melodrama series about three people who experience ambition, revenge, betrayal and love, against the backdrop of the shipbuilding industry in Ulsan during Korea's modernization. It stars Han Ji-hye, Kim Jaewon and Jae Hee.
Events from the year 1974 in South Korea.
Marriage, Not Dating is a 2014 South Korean television series starring Yeon Woo-jin, Han Groo, Jeong Jin-woon, Han Sun-hwa, Heo Jung-min, and Yoon So-hee. It aired on tvN from July 4 to August 23, 2014 on Fridays and Saturdays at 20:40 (KST) for 16 episodes.
Eyes of Dawn is a South Korean television series starring Chae Shi-ra, Park Sang-won and Choi Jae-sung. Directed by Kim Jong-hak and written by Song Ji-na based on the 10-volume novel of the same name by Kim Seong-jong, the story spans the years from the Japanese colonial period to World War II, Korea's liberation and the Korean War.
Park Chung Hee was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the 3rd President of South Korea from 1962 to 1979 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961. He is regarded as one of the most consequential leaders in Korean history, although his legacy as a military dictator continues to cause controversy.
The Treacherous is a 2015 South Korean period thriller film directed by Min Kyu-dong.
Happy Home is a 2016 South Korean television series starring Kim Yeong-cheol, Won Mi-kyung, Kim So-yeon, Lee Sang-woo and Lee Pil-mo. It aired on MBC every Saturdays to Sundays at 20:45 (KST) for 51 episodes from February 27 to August 21, 2016.
Bad Thief, Good Thief is a 2017 South Korean television series starring Ji Hyun-woo, Seohyun, Kim Ji-hoon, Lim Ju-eun and others. It replaced Father, I'll Take Care For You and aired on MBC on Saturdays and Sundays at 22:00 (KST) from May 13 to November 5, 2017 for 50 episodes.
The Dawn of the Empire is a South Korean historical television series which aired on KBS1 from March 2, 2002 to January 26, 2003 for 94 episodes every weekend at 21:45 (KST). It's KBS' second histocal series set in Goryeo after Taejo Wang Geon and revolves around the reigns of the second, third and fourth king of Goryeo, particularly on the latter, Gwangjong's.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
