Korean Air Flight 858 was a scheduled international passenger flight between Baghdad, Iraq, and Seoul, South Korea. On 29 November 1987, the Boeing 707-3B5C flying its route exploded in mid-air upon the detonation of a bomb planted inside an overhead storage bin in the airplane's passenger cabin by two North Korean agents.
The agents, acting upon orders from the North Korean government, planted the device before disembarking from the aircraft during the first stop-over, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. While the aircraft was flying over the Andaman Sea to its second stop-over, in Bangkok, Thailand, the bomb detonated and destroyed the Korean Air Boeing 707-3B5C. Everyone aboard the airliner was killed, a total of 104 passengers and 11 crew members, almost all of which were South Korean. The attack occurred 34 years after the Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the hostilities of the Korean War on 27 July 1953.
The two bombers were traced to Bahrain, where they both took ampules of cyanide hidden in cigarettes when they realized they were about to be taken into custody. The man died, but the woman, Kim Hyon-hui, survived and later confessed to the bombing. She was sentenced to death after being put on trial for the attack, but was later pardoned by the President of South Korea, Roh Tae-woo because it was deemed that she had been brainwashed in North Korea. Kim's testimony implicated Kim Jong Il, who at that time was the future leader of North Korea, as the person ultimately responsible for the incident. The United States Department of State specifically refers to the bombing of KAL 858 as a "terrorist act" and, except between 2008 and 2017, has since included North Korea on its State Sponsors of Terrorism list.Since the attack, diplomatic relations between North Korea and South Korea have not significantly improved, although some progress has been made in the form of four Inter-Korean summits. Kim Hyon-hui later released a book, The Tears of My Soul, in which she recalled being trained in an espionage school run by the North Korean army, and being told by her superiors that Kim Jong Il personally gave the order for the attack. She was branded a traitor by North Korea and became a critic of North Korea after seeing South Korea. Kim now resides in exile, and under constant tight security, fearing that the North Korean government wants to kill her. "Being a culprit, I do have a sense of agony with which I must fight", she said at a press conference in 1990. "In that sense I must still be a prisoner or a captive—of a sense of guilt."
Background
On 12 November 1987, two North Korean agents, Kim Sung-Il () and Kim Hyon-hui, traveled from Pyongyang, North Korea, on an airliner to Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union.
On 27 November, two guidance officers who had arrived in Yugoslavia by train from Vienna gave them the time bomb, a Panasonic transistor radio made in Japan, which contained explosives, a detonator, and a bottle of liquid explosive intended to intensify the blast, disguised as a liquor bottle. The body of Kim Sung-il was sent to South Korea and subsequently buried in the Cemetery for North Korean and Chinese Soldiers.
Aircraft
The aircraft operating as Flight 858 was a Boeing 707-3B5C, registered . It made its first flight in 1971 and was the only 707 purchased by the airline. At the time of its destruction, the aircraft was 16 years old and had accumulated 36,000 flying hours. Around a month before the attack, it had been recently repainted in the new Korean Air livery with an official airline sticker for the upcoming 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
Flight and explosion
The aircraft took off from Saddam International Airport (later renamed Baghdad International Airport) in Baghdad, Iraq around 11:30 p.m. (20:30 UTC), flying to Gimpo International Airport in Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea, with stops at Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.
On the second leg of the flight, from Abu Dhabi to Thailand, KAL 858 was carrying 104 passengers and 11 crew members. At around 2:05 p.m. Korean Standard Time (05:05 UTC), A South Korean diplomat, who worked at the embassy in Baghdad, and his wife, were also aboard the flight, around (2nd conversion units of measurements do not follow the same order as above) from where the detonation is thought to have occurred. The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were not located.
thumb|left|In January 1988, Kim said at a press conference that the [[Government of North Korea ordered the attack to frighten teams from attending the 1988 Seoul Olympics.