Court Decides 10 Months After First Hearing in April Last Year
Kim Jae-gyu's Family Filed for Retrial in May 2020
The court has decided to reopen the retrial for the late Kim Jae-gyu, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who was sentenced to death for the '10·26 Incident.' This comes 45 years after the execution of the death sentence.
In December 1979, Kim Jae-gyu shows a bright expression to his approaching family from the defendant's seat in the Martial Law Ordinary Military Court at the Army Headquarters. On the 19th, the Criminal Division 7 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Lee Jae-kwon, Song Mi-kyung, and Kim Seul-gi) decided to commence the retrial of the case. Kim Jae-gyu was arrested by the Security Command on October 27, the day after he was accused of assassinating former President Park Chung-hee and then-Chief of Security Cha Ji-chul on October 26, 1979.
He was indicted by a military court on November 26, a month later, and was sentenced to death on charges of murder for the purpose of rebellion and attempted rebellion just 16 days after the trial began. The death sentence was carried out six months later, on May 24, 1980.
Kim Jae-gyu's bereaved family filed for a retrial in May 2020, expressing their hope that "this will serve as an opportunity for the historical discussion surrounding the figure of Kim Jae-gyu to evolve and advance."
The court held the first hearing on April 17 last year, four years after the family's retrial request, concluded three hearings, and reviewed whether to commence the retrial after receiving the prosecution's opinion.
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