Korean Air Flight 858

Infobox Airliner accident|name=Korean Air Flight 858
Date=November 29, 1987
Type=Airliner bombing
Site=over the Andaman 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=0

Korean Air Flight 858 was en route from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok on 29 November 1987 when it exploded over the Andaman Sea killing all 115 on board. Two North Korean agents had boarded the plane in Baghdad and departed during its stopover in Abu Dhabi having left a time bomb in an overhead compartment and were arrested when they attempted to leave Bahrain using fake Japanese passports. Both immediately swallowed cyanide capsules. The male, later identified as 70-year-old Kim Sung Il, died almost instantly, but the female suspect, 26-year-old Kim 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, on 15 December 1987 Kim Hyon Hui was transferred to Seoul where she recovered from the poison and, after seeing life in South 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 from Pyongyang via Moscow, Budapest, Vienna, Belgrade, and eventually to Baghdad where the bomb was primed. The escape route was to be from Abu Dhabi via Amman to Rome 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 were North Korean operatives. She said that they had left a radio containing 350 grams of C-4 explosive and a liquor bottle containing approximately 700 ml of PLX 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" by Kim Jong-il, the son of then North Korean President Kim 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 until 2008 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] dated December 6, 1987. Retrieved October 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. Retrieved October 22, 2006.