1. Kim Jae-gyu was a South Korean politician, army lieutenant general and the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.
42 Facts About Kim Jae-gyu
1. 2.
Kim Jae-gyu remains a controversial figure with many contradictions: he is regarded by some as a patriot who ended Park's 18-year military dictatorship, and by others as a traitor who killed his long-time benefactor out of personal grievance.
3.
Kim Jae-gyu is the 27th generation descendant of Kim Moon-gi who was the civil minister, the loyalist of King Danjong, and the one of Samjungsin during the Joseon period.
4.
Kim Jae-gyu graduated from Gyeongbuk University in 1945 and became a middle school teacher until the newly independent South Korean government established its military and created the Korea Military Academy, then called Joseon Defense Academy.
5.
Kim Jae-gyu graduated from the Joseon Defense Academy in December 1946, the same year as Park Chung Hee, and from Army College in 1952.
6.
Kim Jae-gyu served as a regimental commander in 1954 and as vice-president of the Army College in 1957, where Kim Gye-won was the president at the time.
7.
Later Kim Jae-gyu Gye-won became Chief Presidential Secretary to President Park and was present at the scene of assassination.
8.
In 1961, when Park Chung Hee staged a military coup to seize power, Kim Jae-gyu did not participate in the coup and was suspected of being a counterrevolutionary.
9.
Kim Jae-gyu was temporarily detained until he was released on Park's order.
10.
Kim Jae-gyu served Park's military dictatorship from then until his assassination of Park in 1979.
11.
Kim Jae-gyu's handling of the situation was said to have earned Park's trust and favor.
12.
Kim Jae-gyu persuaded Park to promise to voters that it would be his last term.
13.
Kim Jae-gyu opposed the formation of Hanahoe, a secret organization formed by Chun Doo-hwan and other young officers who took personal oaths of loyalty to Park and the group itself above all else, and criticized it as a private army.
14.
In 1979, Kim Jae-gyu claimed to his lawyer that his first attempt to assassinate Park was on September 14,1974, when he was appointed to be Construction Minister.
15.
When Kim Jae-gyu later became KCIA director in 1976, he told Jang's son with deep regret that Jang's death was not accidental as officially announced, but that the regime was involved.
16.
In 1975, he asked Cardinal Kim Jae-gyu to speak with President Park to come up with the "third way," that is, to somehow amend the Yushin Constitution in a way that was acceptable to Park.
17.
Kim Jae-gyu believed that the Catholic cardinal was the only person who could speak frankly to Park without repercussion and was disappointed when the talk was essentially fruitless.
18.
On February 4,1976, Kim Jae-gyu was summoned by Park and was appointed as the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, one of the most powerful and feared positions under Park's dictatorship.
19.
Later Kim Jae-gyu claimed that he did not want the position but thought that it would give him the best chance to persuade President Park and reform the Yushin system.
20.
On one hand, Kim Jae-gyu asked Park to lift the Ninth Emergency Decree at least three times, which punished any criticism of the Yushin Constitution with a prison term of at least one year, until it was finally replaced with the Tenth Emergency Decree, which relaxed many restrictions of the Ninth Decree.
21.
Kim Jae-gyu released many activists and students who had been arrested under the Ninth Decree.
22.
In May 1979, Kim Jae-gyu Young-sam was elected as the chairman of the NDP, despite intense behind-the-scene maneuverings by KCIA to back Yi Chul-seung, a more pliable candidate.
23.
The political tension intensified further when Kim Jae-gyu Young-sam gave an interview with New York Times reporter Henry Stokes, in which he called on the United States to make a choice between the military dictatorship and the Korean people and stop supporting Park's regime.
24.
Park ordered Kim Young-sam's expulsion from the National Assembly, which Kim Jae-gyu feared to be a disastrous path.
25.
On October 3,1979, Kim Jae-gyu met Kim Young-sam, hoping to find a way to avoid such development.
26.
Kim Jae-gyu 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.
27.
Kim Jae-gyu warned Park that the uprisings would spread to five other largest cities including Seoul.
28.
When Kim Jae-gyu Young-sam was elected as the NDP chairman, Cha laid the blame on KCIA, which infuriated Kim Jae-gyu.
29.
Later Cha pushed for Kim Young-sam's expulsion from the National Assembly, which Kim Jae-gyu feared to be a disastrous development.
30.
Kim Jae-gyu was expected to accompany him since the TV station was under KCIA jurisdiction, but Cha blocked him from riding in the same helicopter with President Park.
31.
When Kim Jae-gyu was notified of the banquet, he called Korean Army Chief of Staff Jeong Seung-hwa 15 minutes later to invite him to the KCIA safe house and arranged to have him dine with KCIA Deputy Director Kim Jeong-seop in a nearby KCIA building in the same compound.
32.
Just before the dinner, Kim Jae-gyu told Chief Presidential Secretary Kim Gye-won that he would get rid of Cha.
33.
Kim Jae-gyu reentered the room with a semi-automatic Walther PPK pistol, shot Cha in the arm and then Park in the left chest.
34.
Kim Jae-gyu attempted to fire again on Cha, but the gun jammed.
35.
Kim Jae-gyu came back with his subordinate's gun and again shot Cha, this time in the abdomen, and Park in the head, even though he was already dead.
36.
Jeong heard the shootings and was discussing them with KCIA Deputy Director Kim Jeong-seop when Kim Jae-gyu came in breathless to tell them that an emergency situation had occurred.
37.
Kim Jae-gyu hoped that Jeong and Chief Presidential Secretary Kim would support him in the coup as both were appointed to their positions on his recommendation, and Chief Presidential Secretary Kim was especially close with him.
38.
Many historians believe that Kim Jae-gyu made a critical mistake in not going to KCIA Headquarters, where he would have been in control.
39.
Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Secretary Kim Jae-gyu took Park's body to the Army hospital and ordered doctors to save him at all costs, and went to Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah to reveal what happened that night.
40.
When Chief of Staff Jeong learned of what happened from Chief Presidential Secretary Kim, he ordered Major General Chun Doo-hwan, commander of Security Command to arrest Kim Jae-gyu and investigate the incident.
41.
Kim Jae-gyu was arrested after he was lured to a secluded area outside Army HQ on the pretext of meeting with Army Chief of Staff.
42.
Kim Jae-gyu is buried on a hillside at Samsung Development Park Cemetery, Opo-eup, Gwangju, Gyeonggi.