Kim Shin-jo (born June 2, 1942) is one of two survivors of the 31-person team of
North Korean commandos sent to assassinate the then-president of
South Korea,
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...
, in the
Blue House raid in January 1968.
The only other survivor,
Pak Jae-gyong, made it back to the North, but Kim Shin-jo was captured by South Korean forces. He was interrogated for a year by the South Korean authorities before being released and he became a
citizen of South Korea in 1970. South Korea claimed when North Korean authorities found out that he became a South Korean citizen, his parents were executed and his relatives purged by North Korean authorities.
Kim later became a pastor at Sungrak Sambong church in
Gyeonggi-do
Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...
. He has a wife and two children.
References
Living people
1942 births
People from Chongjin
North Korean military personnel
North Korean assassins
North Korean Christians
Sole survivors
Failed assassins
North Korean defectors
Converts to Christianity
South Korean pastors
South Korean Christians
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