Rangoon Bombing (1983)

Sunday, 21 November 2010 at 15:19

Bombing
On October 9, 1983, President Chun Doo-hwan was on an official visit to Yangon, the capital of Myanmar. During the visit, he planned to lay a wreath at the Martyr’s Mausoleum, to commemorate Aung San, who founded the independent Myanmar and was assassinated in 1947. As some of the president’s staff began assembling at the mausoleum, one of three bombs concealed in the roof of the memorial exploded. The huge blast ripped through the crowd below, killing 21 people and wounding 46. Among the dead were the Korean foreign minister, Lee Bum Suk, the economic planning minister and deputy prime minister, Suh Suk Joo, and the minister for commerce and industry, Kim Dong Whie, the several best and brilliance of ROK . The rest of those killed were presidential advisers, journalists, and security officials, most of them South Korean; however, four Burmese nationals were also among the dead. President Chun was saved because his car had been delayed and was only minutes from arriving at the memorial. The bomb was reportedly detonated early because the presidential bugle which signalled Chun's decoy arrival mistakenly rang out a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Story
On Oct. 9, 1983, a powerful bomb demolished the Martyr’s Mausoleum in Rangoon, now Yangon, just before visiting South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan was to pay homage there.

The mausoleum is a major national sanctuary in Burma where the body of the country’s founding leader Thankin Aung San is buried. The late patriot is the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, a prominent opposition leader in Myanmar.

Chun escaped unhurt as his motorcade was delayed by a few minutes due to standard security procedures. Seventeen South Koreans, including four Cabinet members, who lined up, waiting for the president’s arrival, were killed instantly.

Those killed also included four Burmese nationals. Some of the 46 people injured were South Korean journalists accompanying their president. Burma was their first stop on a six-nation Asian tour.

List of victims
Seo Seok-jun, deputy Prime Minister
Lee Beom-seok, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Kim Dong-hwi, Minister of Commerce
Suh Sang-Chul, Minister of Power Resources
Ham Byeong-chun, Presidential Chief of Staff
Lee Gye-cheol, Ambassador to Burma
Kim Jae-ik, senior Presidential Secretary for Economic
Ha Dong-seon, Planning Director of International Cooperation Committee
Lee Gi-uk, Vice-Minister of Finance
Gang In-hui, Vice-Minister of Agriculture, Forest, Fishery
Kim Yong-hwan, Vice-Minister of Science and Technology
Sim Sang-u, a member of the National Assembly
Min Byeong-seok, physician in attendance on the President
Lee Jae-gwan, presidential press secretary
Han Gyeong-hui, a presidential guard
Jeong Tae-jin, a presidential guard
Lee Jung-hyeon, reporter of The Dong-a Ilbo

Chun cancelled the rest of his schedule, his presidential 747 returned to Seoul and pinpointed North Korea as the culprit. North Korea denied involvement but Burma, with evidence, publicly incriminated Pyongyang and severed diplomatic ties with it as Myanmar Government did.

According to Burma’s official reports, three North Korean agents detonated by radio one of the three pre-planted powerful plastic bombs in the roof of the mausoleum. However, they did so prematurely as a presidential bugle mistakenly rang out a few minutes early to signal Chun’s arrival. That was actually same type of another Mercedes carrying South Korean ambassador to Myanmar Lee Gye-cheol. He also died in the blast.

That was the first bombing major assassination attempt against foreign head of state in Myanmar. Inside stories said that two senior ministers resided closed to PM residence sped to meet PM for emergency meeting without shoes.

After the bombing, the communist commando trio — an army major and two captains — fled the scene for the river leading to Indian Ocean heading for the pick up point just the same as the drop off, but two days later, all were identified and surrounded by the riverbank, one of them was shot to death along with several Myanmar commandos and two others were arrested alive after failing to blow themselves up with hand grenades. They were Major Zimmo and Captain Kang Ming-Chul.

DPRK Commando Major Zimmo, one of the two captured agents was later executed by hanging but the other, identified as DPRK Commando Captain Kang Min-chul, was kept alive because he had cooperated with the Burmese investigation into the case. As far as I know he learned how to speak Myanmar in jail back in 1988. He was a popular guy in jail for his goofyness. He died of liver cancer on 18 May 2008.


In 1983 before this massacre there was a huge shake up in Myanmar intelligence service due to coup attempt as well as inside KCIA for asassination of President Park by KCIA director. The North saw GEN Chun Doo-Hwan as center piece of ROK military & stability at that time. And Myanmar at that time was started looking for outside world. Good timing.

Since 1983 ~ 2010 there were a lot of strange unimaginable twist of events happened between Myanmar, ROK and DPRK.

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