- Korean Air Flight 858
Infobox Airliner accident|name=Korean Air Flight 858
Date=November 29 ,1987
Type=Airliner bombing
Site=over theAndaman Sea
Fatalities=115
Injuries=0
Aircraft Type=Boeing 707-3B5C
Origin=Baghdad International Airport
Stopover=Abu Dhabi International Airport
Last stopover=Don Mueang International Airport
Destination=Kimpo International Airport
Operator=Korean Air
Tail Number=airreg|HL|7406|disaster|
Passengers=104
Crew=11
Survivors=0Korean Air Flight 858 was en route fromAbu Dhabi toBangkok on29 November 1987 when it exploded over theAndaman Sea killing all 115 on board. TwoNorth Korean agents had boarded the plane inBaghdad and departed during its stopover in Abu Dhabi having left atime bomb in an overhead compartment and were arrested when they attempted to leaveBahrain using fake Japanese passports. Both immediately swallowedcyanide capsules. The male, later identified as 70-year-old Kim Sung Il, died almost instantly, but the female suspect, 26-year-oldKim Hyon Hui , survived. [cite news|title=Suspect in Korean Crash Recovers From Poisoning
date=6 December 1987 | publisher="The New York Times "|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9B0DEFDE163EF935A35751C1A961948260]According to Mr. Choi's testimony at a
United Nations Security Council meeting, on15 December 1987 Kim Hyon Hui was transferred to Seoul where she recovered from the poison and, after seeing life inSouth Korea on television, realized that she been "exploited as a tool for North Korean terrorist activities", and made a detailed and voluntary confessionUN document |docid=S-PV.2791 |type=Verbatim Report |body=Security Council |meeting=2791 |highlight=rect_59,597_945,1157 |page=10 |accessdate=2007-11-16|date=16 February 1988 ] detailing her travels under guidance of North Korean agents fromPyongyang viaMoscow ,Budapest ,Vienna ,Belgrade , and eventually toBaghdad where the bomb was primed. The escape route was to be fromAbu Dhabi viaAmman toRome but was diverted to Bahrain due to visa complications.UN document |docid=S-PV.2791 |type=Verbatim Report |body=Security Council |meeting=2791 |page=12 |accessdate=2007-11-16| date=16 February 1988 ]In January 1988, Kim announced at a press conference held by the
Agency for National Security Planning , the South Korean secret services agency, that both she and her partner wereNorth Korea n operatives. She said that they had left a radio containing 350 grams of C-4 explosive and a liquor bottle containing approximately 700 ml ofPLX explosive in an overhead rack in the passenger cabin of the aircraft. Kim expressed remorse at her actions and asked for the forgiveness of the families of those who had died. She also said that the order for the bombing had been "personally penned" byKim Jong-il , the son of then North Korean PresidentKim Il-sung , who had wanted to destabilize the South Korean government, disrupt upcoming elections and frighten teams from attending the Seoul Olympics. [French, Paul. "North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula: A Modern History", p.244. Zed Books (2007), ISBN 1842779052] An article written by Peter Maass for "The Washington Post " and dated January 15, 1988 [http://www.petermaass.com/core.cfm?p=3&news=2&newspaper=34] states that it was unknown whether Kim was coerced in her remarks or in her remorse for her actions.The
United States State Department specifically refers to the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 as a "terrorist act" and until2008 listed North Korea as a Designated State Sponsor of Terrorism [http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/45313.pdf] based on the results of the South Korean investigation.The action was discussed at length in at least two
United Nations Security Council meetings where the allegations and evidence was aired by all sides,UN document |docid=S-PV.2791 |type=Verbatim Report |body=Security Council |meeting=2791 |accessdate=2007-09-25|date=16 February 1988 ] UN document |docid=S-PV.2792 |type=Verbatim Report |body=Security Council |meeting=2792 |accessdate=2007-09-25|date=17 February 1988 ] but no resolution was passed. [ UN document |docid=S-PV-3627 |body=Security Council |type=Verbotim Report |meeting=3627 |page=8 |anchor=pg008-bk02-pa04 |date=31 January 1996 |meetingtime=15:30 |speakername=Mr. Park | speakernation=Republic of Korea |accessdate=2007-09-25 ]This act is the deadliest terrorist attack ever perpetrated against South Korea.
References
ee also
*
Pan Am Flight 103
*Korean Air Flight 007 External links and references
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19871129-0&lang=en Aviation Safety Network file on Flight 858]
* [http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1099770/M Pre-bombing photo from Airliners.net courtesy of Andy Pope]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9B0DEFDE163EF935A35751C1A961948260 New York Times article on Flight 858] datedDecember 6 ,1987 . RetrievedOctober 22 ,2006 .
* [http://www.petermaass.com/core.cfm?p=3&news=2&newspaper=34 WOMAN SAYS SHE SABOTAGED PLANE ON ORDERS FROM N. KOREAN LEADER] ,Peter Maass ,Washington Post ,January 15 ,1988 . RetrievedOctober 22 ,2006 .
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