Kim Dae-jung Incident

This was the incident in which the South Korean opposition leader Kim Dae-jung was abducted from a hotel in central Tokyo in broad daylight on August 8, 1973. It is said that the perpetrators had planned to dump Kim Dae-jung overboard, but midway through, probably following instructions from the plane, they abandoned the plan, and Kim Dae-jung was released in front of his home in Seoul, South Korea on the 13th. After the incident, Japanese investigative authorities found fingerprints of Kim Dong-un, a First Secretary at the South Korean Embassy in Japan, at the scene, raising strong suspicions that the South Korean government had violated Japanese sovereignty, and the incident subsequently developed into a diplomatic issue between Japan and South Korea. However, in November 1973, at a meeting between the prime ministers of both countries, Tanaka Kakuei and Kim Jong-pil, the Korean side apologized for the incident, and promised to investigate Kim Dong-un and take appropriate measures, to guarantee civil liberties to Kim Dae-jung, not to hold him responsible for his words and actions while in Japan and the United States, and to make efforts to prevent a recurrence of the incident. This was the so-called first political settlement. Then, in July 1975, at a meeting between the foreign ministers of both countries, Miyazawa Kiichi and Kim Dong-jo, the Korean side handed over a note verbale, informing Japan that an investigation had been conducted into Kim Dong-un, but there was not enough evidence to substantiate the allegations, so he had not been indicted, and that he had already been dismissed from his position because his words and actions lacked the qualities and dignity of a public servant. The Japanese side accepted this. This was the so-called second political settlement.

Kim Dae-jung subsequently faced hardship, receiving a five-year prison sentence in 1976 and then the death penalty (later commuted) in 1980. Thus, the essence of the case - the issue of violation of sovereignty - was left ambiguous and unquestioned, and Japan's special investigation headquarters was dissolved in August 1983.

[Yasuo Ishimoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1973年（昭和48）8月8日の白昼、東京都心のホテルから韓国の野党指導者金大中(きんだいちゅう／キムデジュン)が拉致(らち)された事件。犯人たちは金大中を船上から海に投棄する予定であったといわれるが、途中、おそらくは飛行機からの指示によってそれを取りやめ、金大中は13日韓国ソウルの自宅前で解放された。事件後、日本の捜査当局により、現場から駐日韓国大使館員、金東雲(きんとううん)一等書記官の指紋が検出されるなど、韓国公権力による日本の主権侵害の疑いが強く、その後、日韓両国の外交問題に発展した。しかし、73年11月、田中角栄(かくえい)・金鍾泌(きんしょうひつ／キムジョンピル)の両国首相会談で、韓国側は事件について陳謝するとともに、金東雲の取調べを行い、しかるべき措置をとること、金大中に関しては市民的自由を保障し、在日・在米中の言動については責任を問わないこと、事態の再発防止に努力することを約束した。これが、いわゆる第一次政治決着である。ついで75年7月、宮沢喜一(きいち)・金東祚(きんとうさく)の両国外相会談で、韓国側は口上書を手交し、金東雲について捜査を行ったが容疑事実を立証するに足る確証がなく不起訴処分としたこと、同人の言動は公務員としての資質・品位に欠けるため、すでに解職したことを通告、日本側もこれを受け入れた。これがいわゆる第二次政治決着である。

　その後、金大中は1976年には懲役5年、さらに80年には死刑の判決（その後減刑）を受けるなど苦難の道を歩んだ。こうして事件の本質としての主権侵害問題は、あいまいのまま不問に付され、83年8月には日本の特捜本部も解散するに至った。

［石本泰雄］

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