The Man Who Shot the President, Retrial After 45 Years

[Financial News] 45 years ago, the man who pulled the trigger on the president stands in court again. The retrial for the late Kim Jae-kyu, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, executed for the assassination of former President Park Chung-hee in 1979, begins on the 16th. It has been 45 years since the execution in 1980, and 5 years since the family requested a retrial.
According to the legal community, the Criminal Division 7 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jae-kwon) will hold the first retrial hearing for former Director Kim at 11 a.m. on this day. Former Director Kim, who directly assassinated former President Park, the pinnacle of the Yushin regime, was sentenced to death for murder with the intent of rebellion in the first trial, and the sentence was carried out on May 24, 1980, after the appeal and Supreme Court rulings.
The military trial at that time proceeded swiftly. The first trial was completed in 16 days, the appeal in just 6 days, and the death sentence was executed three days after the Supreme Court's final ruling. Former Director Kim was arrested by the National Security Command the day after the incident and immediately transferred to a military court.
Forty years later, in May 2020, the family of former Director Kim requested a retrial from the Seoul High Court, claiming "there was illegal investigation and unfair trial." After a lengthy review, the decision to commence the retrial was made on February 19. The court stated at the time, "According to the investigation records, it is acknowledged that investigators from the Martial Law Command Joint Investigation Team beat and tortured former Director Kim with electric shocks for several days." It also judged, "Although the statute of limitations has expired and the judicial police officers cannot be punished, there is sufficient reason for a retrial."
The prosecution countered that the reasons for the retrial were not sufficiently proven and re-appealed on the 25th of the same month, but the Supreme Court dismissed this on May 13. As a result, the retrial will proceed as planned.
If former Director Kim's charges are not recognized in the retrial, or if illegally obtained evidence is excluded, a verdict of not guilty may be issued. The family has argued that former Director Kim should be recognized not as a mere criminal but as a person who made a decisive move to end the Yushin regime. Meanwhile, the social debate over whether the existing historical perception and legal judgment that defined him as a rebel should be overturned continues. 


scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter