Government May Designate Assassin of President Park As Democratic Activist

A once-suspended review by a government commission has now been reactivated to determine whether or not Kim Jae-kyu, the former director of the KCIA who assassinated President Park Chung-hee in 1979, qualifies as a contributor to the democratic movement.

The Commission for Democratization Movement Activists’ Honor-Restoration and Compensation, under supervision of the office of prime minister, said on July 19, “A panel will restart discussions on whether to designate Kim as a democratic activist.”

A request for the evaluation of Kim as a democratic activist was made on October 26, 2001 by his cousin’s son, Kim Jin-baek.

In May of this year, the commission held a closed panel meeting, where it collected preliminary data from Hahm Se-woong, a Catholic priest; Ye Choon-ho, director of the Korean Social Science Research Institute and Jang Ho-kwon, the eldest son of the late activist, Jang Joon-ha.

However, the panel suspended its review, citing Kim Jin-baek’s lack of qualifications as a petitioner.

The current law on compensation for democratic activists limits petitioners up to cousins, following the civil law’s definition of a “bereaved family.”

Earlier, on July 1, the wife of Kim submitted the request. On July 19, the panel concluded that the request was valid and decided to reactivate the review.

The panel plans to collect opinions and data for a complete review to determine if Kim was a contributor to the democratic movement.

“It has yet to determine when the panel will convene,” said the commission. “We will discuss it in due course.”

Hyun-Doo Lee ruchi@donga.com