South Korea to Apologize to Japan for Kim Dae-jung Kidnapping

Former South Korean President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kim Dae-jung

By Juliana Chan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea - The South Korean government will apologize to Japan for abducting Kim Dae-jung in Tokyo, Japan on August 8, 1973.  Mr. Kim,  a South Korean dissident leader later became the president of the country.

A South Korean government panel concluded Wednesday that the country's spy agency kidnapped Mr. Kim with then president Park Chung-hee's "implicit permission."  Mr. Kim was attending a meeting with the leader of the Democratic Unification Party at a hotel in Tokyo when he was abducted.

Although many South Koreans believed their country's former authoritarian regime was behind the abduction, this is the first time South Korea has officially acknowledged involvement in Mr. Kim's kidnapping.

Japan's Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, demanded an apology from the South Korean government, saying that Japan made great efforts to investigate the matter but failed to find out the truth with regard to Mr. Kim's abduction.  He further stated that it is unacceptable if "South Korea keeps holding Japan responsible."

Mr. Park of the Democratic Republican Party became president of South Korea in 1963 following a coup in 1961.  In the 1971 presidential election, Mr. Kim representing the Democratic Party, challenged incumbent President Park.  Although Mr. Kim was defeated by a small margin of votes, President Park saw him as a threat who called for democracy. 

Following an assassination attempt on Mr. Kim's life, he fled to Tokyo in a self-imposed exile.  Mr. Kim led anti-Park rallies and visited the United States and other nations "warning of Park's dictatorship and urging their governments to help bring democracy to South Korea."

On August 8, 1973, less than a month after meeting with U.S. leaders, Mr. Kim was kidnapped by unknown agents and was transported and deposited in front of his home in Seoul on August 13.  The panel could not determine whether the abductees planned to kill Mr. Kim.

Mr. Kim was elected president in 1997, the first South Korean opposition president to come to power, and later won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his policy of engagement with North Korea.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg - South Korea's Spy Agency Admits Kidnapping Kim Dae Jung in 1973 - 24 October 2007

The Korea Times - Park Chung-hee Tacitly Approved Kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung in 1973 - 24 October 2007

IHT - Report: SKorea to apologize to Japan over 1973 kidnapping in Tokyo of opposition leader - 26 October 2007