Mun Se-gwang

Mun Se-gwang
Mun during his trial in 1974
Born	Nanjō Seikō (南条世光) (1951-12-26)26 December 1951 Osaka, Occupied Japan
Died	20 December 1974(1974-12-20) (aged 22) Seoul Detention Center, Seoul, South Korea
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	Murder
Criminal penalty	Death
Details
Victims	Yuk Young-soo Jang Bong-hwa (indirectly)
Date	15 August 1974

Mun Se-gwang (26 December 1951 – 20 December 1974) was a Japanese-born North Korean sympathizer who attempted to assassinate South Korean president Park Chung Hee on 15 August 1974. The assassination attempt resulted in the deaths of Park's wife, Yuk Young-soo, and a high school student, Jang Bong-hwa.

Mun Se-gwang was born to an ethnic Korean family in Osaka, Japan on 26 December 1951. His family had fled from North Korea to Japan shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War.

While in high school, he began studying the biographies of Mao Zedong and Kim Il Sung, and became a supporter of communist beliefs. He communicated with supporters of Juche within the Korean community for several years, coming into contact with North Korean agents who eventually convinced him of the need to eliminate President of the Republic of Korea Park Chung Hee in order to incite a popular uprising in South Korea.

In November 1973, Mun Se-gwang finally decided to assassinate Park Chung Hee and, was paid 500,000 yen to prepare and implement his plan. In May 1974, he received a fake Japanese passport under the name 'Yuki Kawagami'.

Stealing a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver from an Osaka police box on 18 July 1974, he concealed it in his luggage and flew to South Korea on 8 August 1974,^[1] using a Japanese passport to enter the country.^[2] He then booked into the Chosun Hotel.^[1]

Gaining entry to the National Theater in Seoul, on the day of a ceremony celebrating Korea's independence from Japan which was being attended by Park and his wife, Mun intended to shoot Park in the theater lobby. However, his view was obstructed; and he was forced to enter and be seated near the back of the theater. During Park's address, he attempted to get closer to Park but inadvertently fired his revolver prematurely, injuring himself. Having alerted security, Mun then ran down the theater aisle firing wildly.^[3] His second bullet hit the left side of the podium from which Park was delivering his speech. His third bullet was a misfire but the fourth struck Park's wife, Yuk Young-soo, in the head, seriously wounding her. His last bullet went through a flag decorating the rear of the stage. A bullet fired by Park Jong-gyu [ko], one of the President's security detail, in response to Mun's attack ricocheted off a wall and killed a high school student, Jang Bong-hwa. Immediately following the capture of Mun, Park resumed his scheduled speech, despite the wounding of his wife and her being carried from the stage. Following its completion, he picked up his wife's handbag and shoes and left. Despite extensive surgery, Yuk died at 7:00 p.m. that same day.^[1]

During his interrogation, Mun confessed to have been aided in his bid to assassinate Park by an official of a North Korea aligned residents association in Japan. This, and the fact that Mun used a Japanese passport to enter South Korea, strained diplomatic relationships between Japan, North Korea, and South Korea; South Korea concluded that Mun was acting on behalf of North Korea, but Japan refused to accept South Korea's position. Consequently, Park threatened to break off diplomatic relations and to nationalise Japanese assets in South Korea. It required mediation by United States embassy officials before Japan issued a letter of regret, easing tensions between the two countries.^[3]

At the same time, North Korean officials made a statement that they were not involved in the assassination attempt, but they approved of it, calling Moon Se-gwang a "real communist."^{[This quote needs a citation]}

At the trial, Mun Se-gwang also expressed regret that he had failed to kill Park, and that an innocent schoolgirl had died because of his actions. On 17 December 1974, he was found guilty of the attempted assassination resulting in deaths of two people and sentenced to death. Four months after his failed attempt, Mun was executed by hanging in a Seoul prison.^[3]

• Assassination of Park Chung Hee
• Park Geun-hye
  • 2016 South Korean political scandal
• History of South Korea
• Koreans in Japan
• Korean-Japanese disputes

• Keon, Michael (1977). Korean Phoenix: A Nation from the Ashes. Prentice-Hall International. ISBN 978-013-516823-3.
• Oberdorfer, Don (1997). The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History. Reading: Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0-20140-927-7.

• Video of the assassination attempt