Rangoon bombing
| Time | 10:25 am |
|---|---|
| Date | 9 October 1983 |
| Location | Martyrs' Mausoleum, Rangoon, Burma |
| Coordinates | 16°48′09″N 96°08′52″E / 16.802536°N 96.147658°ECoordinates: 16°48′09″N 96°08′52″E / 16.802536°N 96.147658°E |
| Also known as | Rangoon incident |
| Deaths | 21 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 46 |
| Suspect(s) | 3 North Koreans (Kang Min-chul and 2 others) |
| Convictions | Kang Min-chul: life imprisonment Others: death sentence |
The Rangoon bombing of 9 October 1983, was an assassination attempt against Chun Doo-hwan, the fifth President of South Korea, orchestrated by North Korea. Two of the bombers were captured, one of whom confessed to being a North Korean military officer.
On 9 October 1983, President Chun Doo-hwan was on an official visit to Rangoon, the capital of Burma. During the visit he planned to lay a wreath at the Martyrs' Mausoleum to commemorate Aung San, one of the founders of independent Burma who was assassinated in 1947. As some of the president's staff began assembling at the mausoleum, one of three bombs concealed in the roof exploded. The huge blast ripped through the crowd below, killing 21 people and wounding 46 others. Four senior South Korean politicians were killed: foreign minister Lee Beom-seok; minister of power resource, Suh Sang-chul; economic planning minister and deputy prime minister, Suh Suk Joon; and minister for commerce and industry, Kim Dong Whie. 14 South Korean presidential advisers, journalists, and security officials were killed; four Burmese nationals, including three journalists, were also among the dead. President Chun was saved because his car had been delayed in traffic and was only minutes from arriving at the memorial. The bomb was reportedly detonated early because the presidential bugle which signalled Chun's arrival mistakenly rang out a few minutes ahead of schedule.
Burmese police identified three suspects, a Korean People's Army major and two captains. A police investigation revealed that they had slipped off a ship docked in Rangoon port, and had received explosives in a North Korean diplomatic mission. Suspect Kang Min-chul and another attacker attempted to commit suicide by blowing themselves up with a hand grenade that same day, but survived and were arrested, although Kang lost an arm. A third suspect, Zin Bo, went missing, but was hunted down by the Burmese Army. Zin managed to kill three soldiers before being shot dead. Kang Min-chul confessed his mission and links to North Korea, an action by which he was able to avoid a death sentence and instead received life imprisonment. His colleague was executed by hanging. North Korea denied any links to Kang, who was sent to Insein Prison, north of Rangoon.
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