During the night from April 26 to April 27, 1982, South Korean policeman Woo Bum-kon murdered 56 people and wounded around 35 others in several villages in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, before committing suicide when he was confronted by police.
In the aftermath of the attack, several high-profile South Korean politicians resigned or were suspended, and a commission was formed to assess the handling of the massacre by the police. In 2024, a memorial to the victims of the attack was established in Uiryeong.
Background
An undated photo of Woo.
Woo Bum-kon[a][b] (Korean: 우범곤, born November 5, 1955)[1] was born in Choryang, located in the Dong District. His father was also a policeman, and he aspired to follow in the steps of his profession.[1] He had served in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, where he was recognized as a skilled marksman until his discharge in 1978.[2] From April 11 until December 30, 1981, he served as a police officer and with his marksmanship ability, was able to work as a guard at the Blue House.[3]
However, Woo's excessive drinking habits and subsequent behavior caused him to be demoted to his position at Kungyu Village in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang Province.[4][5] Woo's girlfriend later said that Woo had an inferiority complex, and had been bothered by villagers' comments on the fact they lived together unmarried.[6][7] She further described him as "a little eccentric".[7]
Attack
On the afternoon of April 26, 1982, Woo had an argument with his live-in girlfriend, Chun Mal-soon (전말순), after she had woken him by swatting a fly on his chest.[6] Enraged, Woo left the house and went to the police station, where he reported for duty at 4:00p.m. According to early reports, he began drinking heavily, though eyewitnesses later stated that he did not appear drunk during his rampage. According to local officials, he would have been unable to cover 4km (2.5mi) of difficult, rocky terrain while intoxicated.[citation needed]
At about 7:30p.m., Woo returned home, assaulted his girlfriend and smashed their furniture before making his way to the reservists' armory and gathering several weapons, consisting of two M2 carbines, two handguns, at least 180 rounds of ammunition, and seven hand grenades.[4][6] Some reports stated that the other officers were at a meeting and did not notice Woo taking the weapons;[8] others mentioned that he had intimidated the guards to gain access.[citation needed]
Rampage begins
At approximately 9:30p.m., Woo shot his first victim and entered the local post office, where he killed three phone operators and cut off the telephone lines.[7] He next went to Torongni, where he threw a grenade and shot at passers-by in the marketplace, killing six people. He also wounded Chun Mal-soon, who had gone to investigate after hearing shots in the village.[7] From that point on, he proceeded from village to village, taking advantage of his position as a police officer to gain entry to the houses and shoot their inhabitants.
At 10:30p.m., Woo took 18-year-old Kim Ju-dong (김주동) hostage and moved to Ungye-Ri (운계리), where he ordered Kim to get him a soft drink from a grocery store owned by 52-year-old Shin We-do (신외도). After getting what he had asked for, Woo killed Kim and then attacked the store owner and his family. Shin We-do managed to escape after being shot in the leg, though his wife Son Won-jeom (손원점) and his daughters Chang-sun (창순) and Su-jeong (수정) were killed.[9] Woo continued his shooting at the market-place, killing a total of 18 people in that village, before making his way towards Pyongchon-Ni (평촌리).[5][9]
At Pyongchon-Ni, he shot a family of four in their beds and then went to another house where the owner was awake. When the owner of the house saw the armed policeman and asked what had happened, Woo explained that there was an alert as North Korean agents had been spotted. The man invited Woo into the house for dinner, during which the latter complained about his small salary and his transfer from Pusan to the countryside. Woo eventually began shooting at the guests after one of them had remarked that his ammunition did not look real.[citation needed] He killed twelve people in the house and a further eight in the streets, thus leaving a total of 24 people dead in Pyongchon-ni.[citation needed]
Police response, Woo's death
Although police were alerted within minutes of the first shots being fired, it took them an hour to gather a team of 37 officers to search for the gunman, and the national police headquarters in Seoul was not informed until 1:40a.m.[10] Around that time, just 4km (2.5mi) from the police station in Kungryu, Woo found refuge in a farmhouse belonging to 68-year-old Suh In-Su (서인수), whom he told that he was chasing a Communist infiltrator, and that the family should gather in the main room of the house so he could protect them. When the family gathered at his request, he held them hostage.[citation needed]
Two hours later, police eventually caught up with him, and as forces closed in, Woo strapped two grenades to his chest and detonated them, killing himself and three of his hostages. The homeowner Suh survived although gravely injured.[11] Police recovered four rounds of ammunition and one hand grenade from inside the farmhouse.[9]
Aftermath
When the rampage finally ended, 56 people and Woo himself were dead, while around 35 others were wounded. Six of the deaths were of people mortally wounded who died several hours later in hospitals., including a child who died on May 8. At that time, the injured were being treated in hospitals in Jinju and Masan.[12][13]
Later, the provincial chief of police was suspended, and four other officers were arrested for negligence of duty.[2][7]
The Interior Minister of South Korea, Suh Chung-hwa, and the national police chief, A Eung-mo, offered to resign as a form of atonement for Woo's rampage.[2] Suh Chung-hwa, whom president Chun Doo-hwan held responsible for the incident, resigned his commission on April 29, and Roh Tae-woo was appointed Interior Minister.[14][10]
A special parliamentary team was formed, consisting of 19 parliamentarians and led by Home Affairs Committee chairman Kim Chong-hoh, to investigate the massacre and its disastrous handling by the police.[10] Furthermore, the South Korean Cabinet compensated the victims and their families.[15]
The death toll of the massacre is disputed from source to source. 57 people were confirmed dead initially, and 6 were later confirmed dead due to related injuries, but some South Korean sources state that the death toll may have risen to at least 75 after multiple injured victims succumbed to their wounds. Despite the conflicting reports on the death toll, the injury count consistently remains around 35 or more from all available sources.[citation needed] Due to the vast area covered during the rampage, three different hospitals took in the victims, leading some victims to be counted twice, giving way for discrepancies in various news reports.[13]
Memorial
In 2021, Oh Tae-Wan, governor of Uiryeong County, proposed a memorial park, by request of the victims' families in 2018. By April 2022, plans had begun to design a memorial park, and the monument's final design was completed in November 2023. The "Uiryeong 4.26 Memorial Park" (의령4.26추모공원) was officially opened on April 26, 2024, the 42nd anniversary of the attack. The first proper public memorial service was held at 10 a.m. the same day. The park houses a memorial monument and tower, depicting two golden hands releasing a dove in to the sky. A wall with a list of victims carved into the side is situated directly behind the main monument, listing 56 deceased victims and another 34 injured.[16][17][18]
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