On Kidnapping Of Kim Dae-joong And Its Impact

Kim Dae Joong,a rare legendary politician in South Korea,has experienced hardship with 4 times deadly affairs after involved in politics,and almost died before the kidnapping incident.When the East-West Cold War eased in the 1970s,Park Chung-Hee actively planned for the reformist dictatorship,however got vigorously opposed by the democrats.At that time,with increasing popularity,Kim Dae Joong became the leader against dictatorship.During the presidential election in 1971,Kim Dae Joong was defeated with little gap,resulting in extreme psychological pressure on Park Chung-Hee.After the election,Kim Dae Joong suffered from serious traffic accident and nearly died,his overseas democratization campaign revealed the evil nature of Park Chung-Hee's dictatorship system.The Yin Bi Yong Incident reminded Li Hou Luo that,Park Chung-Hee was quite a ruthless man for his own benefit.Therefore,Li Hou Luo,who gradually fell out out favor,believed that he would be favored once Kim Dae Joong got killed,which became the catalyst for the Kim Dae Joong Kidnapping Incident.On August 8,1973,Kim Dae Joong was kidnapped at the Palace Hotel,Tokyo,Japan.It aroused wide public discussion that,whether the kidnapping incident belonged to murder or kidnapping.Judging from various signs,it was more likely the murder incident.However,it showed totally different responses on the incident between Korea and Japan at that time.Actually the Japanese media actively reported the incident while the Korean government strictly controlled the news report,resulting in intense dissatisfaction among the then citizens.Two months after the incident,the Kidnapping Incident was resolved in the political consultations between the senior staff of the two sides.However,it was actually just a temporary reconciliation.In fact,the mastermind of the kidnapping Incident is still unknown until now.Based on various testimonies and the performance of Li Hou Luo before and after the incident,it is reasonably deduced that,the wicked scheme was planed by Li Hou Luo,for the sake of getting favoured again.The incident has attracted wide public attention among the then Korean democrats,promoted the re-emergence of the Korean democratic struggle,above all,became the fighting catalyst among the news media for speech freedom.In addition,it also resulted in the Wen Shi Huang Shooting Incident,with more strained relation between Korea and Japan at that time.The US government also made tremendous efforts for rescuing Kim Dae Joong.After that,with increasing influence,he was under house arrest with strict supervision by Park Chung-Hee government.It was obvious that,the Kidnapping Incident has greatly enhanced Kim Dae Joong's Korean popularity and international influence.