Lee Seung-bok, ( ko, 이승복; December 9, 1959 December 9, 1968) was a 9-year-old South Korean boy murdered by North Korean commandos on December 9, 1968. His murder was widely publicised throughout South Korea. In the early 1990s it was claimed that Lee had never existed and that his death was the creation of South Korean propaganda.

Early life

Lee Seung-bok was the second of four children of Lee Seok-woo and Joo Dae-ha and was raised on their farm in a remote location on the north of Gyebang mountain.

Death

On the night of 30 October 1968, 120 members of

Unit 124 Unit 124 ( ko, 124부대) was a black operations unit of the North Korean Special Operation Forces formed to assassinate South Korean President Park Chung-hee in the Blue House raid in January 1968. Formation Unit 124 was established from thirt ...

of the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...

landed at 8 separate locations between Ulchin –

Samcheok Samcheok () is a city in Gangwon-do, South Korea. History Ancient age & Three Kingdom * It was called "Siljikguk or Siljikgokguk" * 102 under the rule of Silla ( Pasa 23rd) * 468 under the rule of Goguryeo (Jangsu 56th) * 505 The name changed t ...

in Gangwon province and moved inland on a 30-day mission to create guerilla bases in the

Taebaek Mountains The Taebaek Mountains are a mountain range that stretches across North Korea and South Korea. They form the main ridge of the Korean peninsula. Geography The Taebaek mountains are located along the eastern edge of the peninsula and run along ...

. On the morning of 31 October they entered several villages and began indoctrinating the villagers, several of whom slipped away to alert the authorities.

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...

forces soon arrived in the area and began hunting down the infiltrators. On the night of 9 December several North Korean commandos burst into the Lee household demanding food and shelter. The North Koreans asked Lee Seung-bok if he preferred North Korea or South Korea. When he replied that he preferred South Korea, the North Koreans began to beat him. Lee then said "I hate Communists," this enraged the North Koreans who proceeded to kill Lee, his mother Joo Dae-ha (33), younger brother Lee Seung-su (7) and younger sister Lee Seung-Ja (4). Lee's father Lee Seok-woo and older brother Lee Hak-gwan managed to escape from the house and raised the alarm. The North Koreans proceeded to mutilate Lee Seung-bok's face by giving him a half

Glasgow smile A Glasgow smile (also known as a Chelsea smile, or a Glasgow, Smiley, Huyton, A buck 50 or Cheshire grin) is a wound caused by making a cut from the corners of a victim's mouth up to the ears, leaving a scar in the shape of a smile. The act ...

. The North Koreans fled the Lee house and were never identified, but they may have been among the 113 members of Unit 124 killed by South Korean forces.

Conspiracy theory

In the early 1990s rumours began to circulate that Lee never existed and the story of his murder had been created by propaganda units of the South Korean military governments. In July 1999 prosecutors charged Kim Ju-eon the former general secretary of the People's Coalition for Media Reform with defamation after he included the December 11, 1968 ''

The Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...

'' report, entitled, "I Don't Like the Communist Party. A Young Mouth of Resistance Torn," in an "Exhibition of Misreporting" and called the reports of the incident a lie. In September 2002, Kim was found guilty and was sentenced to 6-months in prison. In October 2004, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim to six months prison and two years probation for "spreading false facts" and concluded that the incident had taken place and that the media reports at the time were accurate.

Memorials

The Lee Seung-bok Memorial Center was established in 1982 south of Lee's home in Nodong-ri, Gangwon, South Korea . The memorial center contains a memorial hall showing photos and paintings of Lee's life, death and burial. The Lee family house was moved to the park from Gyebang Mountain. An outdoor static park contains a

Northrop F-5 The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and t ...

, a

Cessna O-1 The Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog is a liaison and observation aircraft. It was the first all-metal fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army following the Army Air Forces' separation from it in 1947. The Bird Dog had a lengthy ...

, an

M4 Sherman } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the Military history of the United States during World War II, United States and Allies of World War II, Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman prove ...

and various artillery pieces. The graves of Lee and his family are located within the park area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Seung-bok 1959 births 1968 murders in South Korea 1968 deaths 1968 in South Korea 1968 in military history 20th-century South Korean people Aftermath of the Korean War Incidents of violence against boys Male murder victims Murdered South Korean children North Korea–South Korea relations People whose existence is disputed