Kim Shin-jo, a former North Korean commando who shocked South Korea in 1968 by admitting his mission to assassinate then-President Park Chung-hee, has died aged 82. Once an agent of the North’s regime, Kim later resettled in South Korea, renouncing communism and eventually becoming a Christian pastor.

His death was confirmed by Sungrak Church in Seoul, which said Kim passed away of old age on Wednesday. His funeral is scheduled for Saturday. Kim is survived by his wife—whom he met after defecting—and their two children, a son and a daughter.

From deadly mission to pulpit

Kim was part of an elite 31-member North Korean team tasked with storming the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential residence, in a brazen bid to kill Park Chung-hee. The group infiltrated the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone and advanced close to the palace before being intercepted by South Korean forces.

What followed was a violent two-week confrontation in the nearby hills, resulting in the deaths of nearly all the infiltrators. Only three commandos survived—two allegedly made it back to the North, while Kim Shin-jo was the only one captured alive.

During a government-arranged press conference, Kim made headlines by stating: “We came to slit the throat of Park Chung-hee.”

The attempted assassination came at a time of heightened Cold War tensions, with South Korea backed by the United States and North Korea supported by the Soviet Union. The attack left about 30 South Koreans dead and triggered sweeping security reforms under Park’s regime. These included the creation of civilian reservist forces, mandatory military training in schools, and the introduction of residential ID cards.

Turning point

Kim later claimed he was pardoned because he never fired his weapon and was convinced by South Korean authorities to abandon his allegiance to the North. In the years that followed, he toured the country, denouncing North Korea’s ideology in public speeches at schools, companies, and civic events.

In later interviews, Kim revealed that his parents in the North were executed as a result of his defection. He was ordained as a pastor in 1997 and spent the rest of his life spreading religious teachings.

The motives behind the mission

In a 2009 interview with JoongAng Ilbo, Kim reflected on the reason behind the 1968 operation. “I earlier didn’t know why Kim Il Sung wanted to kill President Park,” he said. “But I came to know the reason as I spent time here. Kim must have been afraid of a poor country such as South Korea becoming rich. As the economy improved, South Korea would secure more money to buy weapons. From Kim Il Sung’s perspective, he couldn’t help killing President Park to achieve communization of South Korea.”

Kim identified North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung—grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un—as the mastermind behind the operation. Kim Il Sung ruled until his death in 1994, after which leadership passed to his son Kim Jong Il, and then to his grandson.

In her 2007 autobiography, Park Geun-hye—daughter of Park Chung-hee and South Korea’s first woman president—claimed that Kim Jong Il had apologised for the assassination attempt. She wrote that during a 2002 meeting in Pyongyang, Kim told her the incident was the work of “extremists” and that they had received “unspecified due punishments.” These remarks, however, have never been independently verified.

(With inputs from AP)