Infiltrated as an Armed Agent, Later Defected
Served as a Pastor Afterward, Retired... Passed Away at 83
Kim Sin-jo, who infiltrated South Korea as an armed North Korean agent in 1968 and later became a pastor after defecting, has passed away at the age of 83.
Pastor Kim Sin-jo. Photo by Asia Economy DB
According to Seoul Seongnak Church and others, Pastor Kim passed away early on the 9th.
The deceased was one of the 31 armed North Korean agents sent to the South on January 21, 1968. They infiltrated the Demilitarized Zone with the intent to assassinate President Park Chung-hee, but were discovered during a police inspection while on emergency duty at Changuimun Gate in Seoul that night.
Subsequently, the military and police launched a large-scale operation to eliminate the armed agents. By the end of January that year, 29 of the 31 were killed, one escaped back to North Korea, and Kim was the only surviving North Korean armed agent. Immediately after his capture, he caused a stir by responding roughly to a reporter’s question about his mission, saying, "I came to cut off Park Chung-hee’s head."
He was ordained as a pastor on January 21, 1998, and served at Seoul Seongnak Church before retiring.
Meanwhile, the funeral will be held at the Seo Seoul Funeral Hall, Gyowon Yeoum, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
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