President Park Chung-hee, on his way back to Cheong Wa Dae aboard a helicopter from a ceremony dedicating a flood bank at Sagpyo Lake on Oct. 26, 1979 had the chopper circle the capital. It was as if he wished to keep in memory the "Miracle of the Han River" he achieved during his 18-year rule. The previous day, the president was said to have picked up a fallen leaf while strolling the Cheong Wa Dae grounds yard and said in a forlorn way, "They say a paulownia leaf heralds deepening autumn."
The Yushin (revitalizing) crisis was at its peak in 1979, the year after Park assumed the republic's ninth presidency. On Aug. 11, a group of women staff at YH Trading held a sit-in at the opposition New Democratic Party headquarters in protest against the closure of the firm, and one was killed in a melee with the police. In an interview with the New York Times published on Sept. 16, NDP chairman Kim Young-sam demanded the U.S. government retract its support of Park Chung-hee.
On Oct. 4 the ruling party passed a resolution at the National Assembly expelling Kim from the legislature. On Oct. 16, massive anti-Yushin demonstrations took place in Busan and Masan, and martial law was proclaimed in Busan two days later. Korean Central Intelligence Agency director Kim Jae-kyu, who watched the demonstrations at the scene, was angry at the top presidential bodyguard Cha Ji-chol, who insisted on brutal suppression.
At 6:05 p.m. Oct. 26, Park was a dinner at a Gungjeong-dong safe house with Kim Jae-kyu and Cha Ji-chol. Kim, slipping out of the party after about 40 minutes, summoned his subordinates.
"I'll get rid of them this evening." "Including his excellency?" Kim nodded. At 7:40 p.m., when Park was singing a song along with model Shin Jae-sun to the accompaniment of singer Shim Soo-bong, Kim shot Cha in the arm, uttering curses. "What are you doing?" Park said.
"Guards, guards!" Cha called. Kim, after hesitating for four or five seconds, shot Park, who was sitting upright with his eyes closed, in the chest. Kim's subordinates fired at random at the presidential bodyguards in the waiting room and kitchen. While Kim left the room when his pistol jammed, Shim Soo-bong and Shin Jae-sun rushed to Park's side. "Your excellency, are you all right?"
Park's last words before he passed out were: "I'm all right." Kim, returning to the room carrying a gun taken from one of his followers, shot Cha and then fired at the president’s head from a distance of 50 cm. It was the end of an era.
