On 14 September 1986, a bomb blast at

Gimpo International Airport Gimpo International Airport (), commonly known as Gimpo Airport , formerly rendered in English as Kimpo International Airport, is located in the far western end of Seoul, some west of the Central District of Seoul. Gimpo was the main interna ...

, the then-main

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

serving

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, killed five people and injured around 30 others. All the victims were

South Koreans This is a demographics, demography of the population of South Korea including population density, Ethnic group, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, Religion in South Korea, religious affiliations and other aspects o ...

. Officials blamed agents acting on behalf of the government of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

for the attack. It took place just six days before the start of the 1986 Asian Games hosted by Seoul. National Police Director Kang Min Chang said North Korea performed the terrorist attack in an attempt to disrupt the Asian Games. He also said the attack was similar to the

Rangoon bombing The Rangoon bombing of 9 October 1983, was an assassination attempt against Chun Doo-hwan, the fifth president of South Korea, in Rangoon, Burma (present-day Yangon, Myanmar). The attempt was orchestrated by North Korea. Although Chun survive ...

in 1983 when dozens of South Koreans lost their lives. These bombings, including that of

Korean Air Flight 858 Korean Air Flight 858 was a scheduled international passenger flight between Baghdad, Iraq, and Seoul, South Korea. On 29 November 1987, the aircraft flying that route exploded in mid-air upon the detonation of a bomb planted inside an overhead ...

in 1987, caused the South Korean government to apply massive security measures for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul.

References

{{coord missing, South Korea Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1986 1986 in South Korea Terrorist attacks on airports Gimpo International Airport North Korea–South Korea relations Terrorist incidents in South Korea September 1986 events in Asia State-sponsored terrorism Terrorism committed by North Korea 1986 crimes in South Korea Building bombings in Asia

See also

References