The 1996 Gangneung submarine infiltration incident occurred on 18 September 1996, near the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n town of

Gangneung Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

. The incident was one of the more serious instances of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

involving the Reconnaissance Bureau (reconnaissance team and 22nd Squadron of the Maritime Department of the Reconnaissance Bureau). The raid was launched by North Korean armed spies to assassinate the President of South Korea,

Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (; or ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, he spent almost 30 years as one of the leaders of t ...

, during his visit to Chuncheon, on 5 October 1996.

History

Landing

On 15 September 1996, a

n landed a three-person special operations reconnaissance team on the east coast of South Korea near

Jeongdongjin Jeongdongjin (also Chongdongjin) is a town near Gangneung, South Korea, and one of the most popular sites in Korea for watching the sunrise on New Year's Day.Gangneung Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

, Gangwon-do. Their mission was to spy on the naval installations in the area and then return. However, the larger mission was the assassination of South Korean President

. The "reconnaissance team" alongside the submarine was to help drop off the "assassination" team, survey the naval facilities, and return. The "assassination team" was to assassinate president Kim Young-sam at Chuncheon, a nearby city. President Kim was planning to visit Chuncheon to open a national sports event to be held on 7 October. The submarine made a failed attempt to collect the team on the 16th and returned the following day. It ran aground in the attempt, and all efforts to free her were unsuccessful. The crew then decided to destroy the sensitive equipment in the submarine and try to make it to the

DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

. The crew split up in several groups but one was soon spotted by a civilian who became suspicious and alerted the authorities, who quickly mobilized.

South Korean manhunt

A 49-day-long manhunt ensued, from 18 September to 5 November, resulting in the capture or elimination of all the crew and members of the reconnaissance team, except one, who is believed to have made it back to North Korea. Four civilians and 12 South Korean soldiers (eight

KIA Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

and four in accidents) died; 27 soldiers were wounded. Of the 25 North Korean infiltrators, one was captured, 11 were killed by the other members for failure in responsibility of running aground of the submarine, and 13 were killed in firefights with the

South Korean Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...

. Some analysts suspected that the motivation behind the assassination of Choe Deok-geun, South Korean consul for the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

, was North Korean retaliation for the loss of their men. The infiltrators possessed among their arsenal

M16A1 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

rifles (with accompanying 5.56mm NATO ammunition) and imitation South Korean-style military uniforms.

Nestlé Crunch Crunch is a chocolate bar made of milk chocolate and crisped rice. It is produced globally by Nestlé with the exception of the United States, where it is produced under license by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. Histor ...

chocolate bars were also recovered. Some of the dead spies' corpses were displayed to the media; some were wearing South Korean-style military uniforms as disguises. The submarine was salvaged and towed to a naval base for investigation. The sole captured crewmember, the submarine's helmsman, Lee Kwang-soo, gave in after much interrogation and revealed much of the plans. He admitted that the plan for infiltration was to assassinate the South Korean hardline president Kim Young-sam. He later became an instructor in the South Korean Navy. North Korea was at first reluctant to take responsibility, claiming that the submarine had suffered an engine failure and had drifted aground. By 29 December, however, the North issued an official statement expressing "deep regret" over the submarine incident. In return, the South Korean government returned the cremated remains of the infiltrators to the North via

Panmunjom Panmunjom, also known as Panmunjeom, now located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea or Kaesong, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 Korea ...

on 30 December.

Timeline of North Korean casualties

*18 September, 16:40 – 1 captured by local policemen *18 September, 17:00 – 11 bodies of executed submarine crew members were found *19 September, 10:00 – 3 killed by the South Korean army commandos *19 September, 14:00 – 3 killed by the South Korean army special forces *19 September, 16:00 – 1 killed by the South Korean army *21 September, 20:00 – 1 killed by the South Korean army *22 September, 06:00 – 1 killed by the South Korean army *28 September, 06:30 – 1 killed by the South Korean army *30 September, 16:00 – 1 killed by South Korean special forces *5 November, 10:00 – 2 killed by South Korean special forces

Aftermath

The ''Sang-O'' class submarine is on display at ''Tongil'' (Unification) Park near

References

Bibliography

*Harry P. Dies, Jr.:
North Korean Special Operations Forces: 1996 Kangnung submarine infiltration
', Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, Oct-Dec 2004.

External links

Pictures and information regarding the display.

The story and pictures of the North-Korean submarine near Jeongdongjin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Infiltration Of Gangneung Espionage scandals and incidents Maritime incidents in 1996 Korean People's Navy Conflicts in 1996 1996 in South Korea 1996 in North Korea Gangneung Maritime incidents in South Korea North Korea–South Korea relations Mass shootings in Asia Military history of South Korea September 1996 events in Asia October 1996 events in Asia November 1996 events in Asia