Kim Jae-gyu

Kim Jae-gyu was director of South Korea’s Central Intelligence Agency who killed President Park Chung-hee during a dinner on October 26, 1979.

October 26 Incident: The 1979 assassination of South Korean president Park Chung-hee by intelligence chief Kim Jae-gyu. The event for which Kim is chiefly remembered occurred at a dinner in a KCIA safe house.
Chun Doo-hwan: South Korean army general who seized power after Park Chung-hee’s assassination and later became president. Chun led the investigation and military consolidation following Kim’s arrest.
Korean Central Intelligence Agency: South Korea’s principal intelligence and security agency from 1961 to 1981, with extensive domestic political powers. Kim commanded this agency, whose facilities and personnel enabled the assassination.
Democratization of South Korea: South Korea’s transition from authoritarian government to competitive democracy, consolidated through struggles in the 1980s and 1990s. Kim presented Park’s killing as a step toward democracy, though it did not produce immediate civilian rule.
Park Chung-hee: South Korean military officer and president who ruled from 1963 until his assassination in 1979. Kim killed the president after years serving within his government.
Kim Gye-won: South Korean presidential chief of staff present at the dinner where Park Chung-hee was killed. His testimony and account of the night became central to reconstructing the assassination.
KCIA safe house: A secure residence operated by South Korea’s Central Intelligence Agency for clandestine meetings and operations. Kim used the agency’s Gungjeong-dong compound to host the dinner where he shot Park.
Political assassination: The deliberate killing of a political figure to influence power, policy, or public life. Kim’s killing of a sitting president is a defining case of political assassination.
Cha Ji-cheol: South Korean military officer and presidential security chief under Park Chung-hee. His rivalry with Kim intensified tensions before the assassination.
Lee Hu-rak: South Korean intelligence chief from 1970 to 1973, during Park Chung-hee’s presidency. He preceded Kim as head of the KCIA and illustrates the office’s political reach.

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Fourth Republic of KoreaRelated: His killing of Park ended the Fourth Republic’s defining presidency.