Kim Jaegyu - Year 1979

Year 1979

The last year of Park's rule was particularly turbulent with increasing opposition from the New Democratic Party (NDP), which was emboldened after winning the 1978 election by 1.1% despite Park's complete control of media, money, and all institutions of the government. Because of the Yushin Constitution, which allowed President Park to appoint one third of National Assembly seats, Park's Democratic Republican Party (DRP) remained in power. In May 1979, Kim Young Sam was elected as the chairman of New Democratic Party (NDP) despite intense behind-the-scene manueverings by KCIA to back a more pliable candidate Yi Chul-seung. Under Kim Young Sam's leadership, the NDP took the hardline policy of never compromising or cooperating with Park until the repeal of Yushin Constitution and took on direct confrontation in many issues, especially the aforementioned YH Trade case. After the violent arrest, Kim Young Sam warned that Park's murderous regime would soon collapse in the most wretched manner. Park was determined to remove Kim from the political scene like imprisoned Kim Dae-joong. In September 1979, the KCIA worked behind the scene to entice three NDP members to challenge Kim's election as NDP chairmanship in the court on technicality, and the court obliged by ordering the suspension of Kim's NDP chairmanship.

The political tension intensified further when Kim Young Sam gave an interview with the New York Times reporter Henry Stokes, in which he called on the United States to make a choice between military dictatorship and Korean people and stop supporting Park's regime. President Park ordered Kim's expulsion from the National Assembly, which Director Kim feared to be a disastrous path. On October 3, 1979, Director Kim met the DNP Chairman Kim, hoping to find a way to avoid such development. Having asked reluctant Kim to come to KCIA "for the sake of the country", Director Kim warned that Park's hostility toward him reached the point where it might not end with just expulsion or arrest and literally begged Kim Young Sam to just say that there was miscommunication with the interview. According to Kim Young Sam, when he refused, Director Kim appealed that it would bring misfortune to the country, to Kim Young Sam and to President Park. Indeed, Kim's expulsion from the Assembly the next day led all 66 NDP lawmakers to submit their resignation to the National Assembly en masse and the U.S. to recall its ambassador to Washington in protest. Uprisings broke out in Kim Young Sam's hometown in Busan on October 16, the second largest city in South Korea, resulting in arson of 30 police stations over several days. It was the largest demonstration since the days of President Rhee Seung Man and spread to nearby Masan on October 19 and other cities, with students and citizens calling for repeal of the Yushin Constitution. KCIA Director Kim went to Busan to investigate the situation and found that the demonstrations were not riots by some college students, but more like a "popular uprising joined by regular citizens" to resist the regime. He warned President Park that the uprisings would spread to five other largest cities including Seoul. Park said that he himself would give an order to fire upon demonstrators if the situation got worse.