Airborne troops used to quell demonstrations in 1979

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Fri, December 8, 2023 | 11:02

Politics

Airborne troops used to quell demonstrations in 1979

Posted : 2018-02-18 15:56

Updated : 2018-02-18 18:45

A document, entitled "President Park Chung-hee's directives," shows he ordered the dispatch of an airborne brigade to Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, to support a crackdown by the Army's 39th division against a pro-democracy movement. / Yonhap

By Choi Ha-young

Former President Park Chung-hee ordered the military to use airborne troops to quell demonstrations against his dictatorship that were escalating in southeastern cities in October 1979, according to a document unveiled by a government-run fact-finding committee, Sunday.

The document, "President Park's directives," showed the dictator ordered the dispatch of an airborne brigade to Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, to support a crackdown by the Army's 39th Division. According to the order issued Oct. 18, 235 airborne soldiers trained for special warfare were deployed in the city to put down the demonstrations.

The committee concluded that the presidential order was illegal, as it was before the Garrison Decree ― proclaimed Oct. 20 ― stating there should be a request from a local governor to dispatch soldiers. However, there was no such request, the committee said.

"It was unlawful to arbitrarily mobilize the airborne soldiers to Masan. Particularly, it was clearly illegal since the soldiers arrived there before the Garrison Decree was declared."

The committee also found that another group of soldiers arrived in Busan, Oct. 17, also before martial law was proclaimed. There, the soldiers tortured protestors in order to fabricate espionage charges against opposition politicians.

At least 1,584 people were detained, which is more than the previously known 1,058. The report also revealed they were detained without legal grounds, saying the authorities issued warrants at least three days after the arrests.

The anti-government rallies, known as Bu-Ma Democratic Protests named after two southern cities of Busan and Masan, triggered the Park regime's collapse by causing a rift amid the ruling elite. Kim Jae-gyu, Park's aide and of the spy agency, assassinated Park, Oct. 26, right after a visit to the cities to check on public sentiment.

Kim was at odds with Park over how to resolve people's dissatisfaction with the government. Kim viewed that ruling with an iron fist during a sluggish economy angered the citizens; while Park claimed they were mobilized by pro-communist student activists.

In court testimony, Kim claimed that he had to kill Park in order to prevent him from commit nationwide massacres of anti-dictatorship protesters. Park is the father of ex-President Park Geun-hye, who was ousted and imprisoned in a massive corruption scandal.

hayoung.choi@ktimes.com