Park Giseo, Who Executed Kim Gu's Assassin Ahn Doohee, Passes Away at 77

Passed Away Due to Chronic Illness

Park Giseo, who executed Ahn Doohee, the assassin of Kim Gu, passed away on July 10. He was 77 years old.

According to Yonhap News, Park's family reported that he died of a chronic illness at a hospital in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, at around 12:10 a.m. on this day.

Born in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, Park was working as a city bus driver for Soshin Transportation in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, when, on October 23, 1996, he went to Ahn Doohee's home in Jung-gu, Incheon, and killed him with a 40-centimeter-long "Jeong Uibong." Seven hours after the incident, Park turned himself in to the police and stated, "I killed Ahn Doohee because I respected Kim Gu. It was difficult, but I believe it was the right thing to do."

The late Park Giseo, who donated Jeong Uibong to the Museum of Colonial History in 2018. Photo by Yonhap News

On June 26, 1949, Ahn Doohee assassinated Kim Gu with a pistol at Gyeonggyojang, near Seodaemun in Seoul (now the site of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital). For this crime, Ahn was sentenced to life imprisonment, but in February 1951, he was released by special pardon and reinstated as an artillery officer in the military.

In November 1997, the Supreme Court upheld a three-year prison sentence for Park, but in March 1998, during the administration of President Kim Daejung, he was pardoned and released. Afterward, he worked again as a bus driver for Soshin Transportation, and in 2002, after obtaining a private taxi license, he worked as a taxi driver. In 2018, he donated the "Jeong Uibong" he used at the time to the Museum of Colonial History in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

Park is survived by his wife Won Mija, one son and one daughter (Park Ansuk and Park Chanjong), and his son-in-law Park Kihun. The funeral will be held in Room 7 of Bucheon Funeral Hall, with the procession scheduled for 5 a.m. on July 12. The burial will take place at Moran Park in Namyangju.