Prosecution Appeals Court's Decision to Retry Kim Jaegyu
Disputes Retrial Over 'Park Chung-hee Assassination'
The prosecution has filed an appeal against the court's decision to initiate a retrial for Kim Jae-gyu, the then Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who was sentenced to death for the ‘10·26 Incident’. On the 25th, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office stated in a press release, “The retrial system is an exceptional emergency relief procedure that re-examines facts confirmed through careful factual review,” adding, “It is difficult to consider that the grounds for retrial in this case have been proven to the extent equivalent to a final judgment.” A retrial is a procedure to re-examine an already finalized verdict and is conducted only in extremely exceptional cases where the court finds errors in the outcome or discovers new evidence.
The High Prosecutors' Office particularly noted, “Considering the gravity and historical significance of the matter, it was deemed appropriate to seek the Supreme Court’s judgment on whether to initiate the retrial.” Earlier, the court accepted the bereaved family’s request for a retrial and decided on the 19th to initiate a retrial on the charge of murder with the purpose of rebellion against former Director Kim. This is 45 years after Kim’s execution.
The court explained, “It can be acknowledged that investigators belonging to the Martial Law Command Joint Investigation Unit subjected the defendant to several days of assault, including beatings and electric torture,” adding, “This constitutes assault and cruel treatment under criminal law.” Furthermore, “Although it has been proven that the judicial police officers involved in the investigation underlying the prosecution committed crimes related to their duties, the statute of limitations has expired, preventing a final judgment; therefore, this constitutes grounds for retrial as stipulated in Articles 420 and 422 of the Criminal Procedure Act.”
Previously, in May 2020, Kim’s bereaved family filed a retrial request with the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 7 (Presiding Judges Lee Jae-kwon, Park Joo-young, Song Mi-kyung), stating, “We hope this will serve as an opportunity for the historical discussion about the figure Kim Jae-gyu to evolve and advance.”
Kim was arrested by the Security Command the day after he assassinated former President Park and Chief of Staff Cha on October 26, 1979. He was indicted by a military court on November 26, just one month later, and sentenced to death for murder with the purpose of rebellion and attempted rebellion within 16 days of the trial’s commencement. Kim appealed the death sentence, refusing to accept it, but the appeal trial concluded within six days. The Supreme Court also upheld the original death sentence, and Kim was executed by hanging on May 24, 1980.
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