Ahn Doo-hee (alternative spelling: Ahn Doo-whi) (24 March 1917 in Ryūsen-gun,

Heianhoku-dō was one of the administrative divisions of Korea under Japanese rule, with its capital at Shingishū. The province consisted of modern-day North Pyongan, North Korea. Population Number of people by nationality according to the 1936 census: ...

Chōsen Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon, Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji period, Meiji government, military ...

– 23 October 1996) was a Korean lieutenant who carried out the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

of independence activist Korean leader

Kim Koo Kim Gu (, ; August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949), also known by his pen name Baekbeom (백범; ), was a Korean statesman. He was the sixth, ninth, and president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea; a leader of the Korean indepen ...

on 26 June 1949. Officially, it is maintained that Ahn Doo-hee acted alone, although some have theorized that Ahn was part of a broader conspiracy, possibly the CIA. Ahn died at the hands of an admirer of Kim Koo in 1996. Kim was at home, reading poetry, when Ahn, a lieutenant in the South Korean Army, burst in and shot him four times. For the assassination, Ahn was convicted and sentenced to a term of life in prison; however, shortly thereafter, his sentence was commuted to a term of 15 years by then newly elected Korean president

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (, ; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Ko ...

. At his trial, Ahn maintained that he was solely responsible for the assassination. At the outset of the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

in 1950, Ahn was released from prison, having served only one year of his 15-year sentence. Upon his release, Ahn was re-instated as a military officer. After serving under Rhee during the Korean War, Ahn was discharged in 1953, having attained the

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

. After Syngman Rhee fled Korea in response to the

April Revolution The April Revolution ( ko, 4.19 혁명), also called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, were mass protests in South Korea against President Syngman Rhee and the First Republic from April 11 to 26, 1960 which led to Rhee's resigna ...

of 1960, Ahn went into hiding, living under an

assumed name A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

. On 13 April 1992, a confession by Ahn was published by Korean newspaper Dongah Ilbo. In the confession, Ahn claimed that the assassination of Kim had been ordered by

Kim Chang-ryong Kim Chang-ryong (July 18, 1920 – January 30, 1956) was a high-ranking officer in the Republic of Korea Army, the head of the Korean Counter Intelligence Corps, and South Korean President Syngman Rhee's most trusted right-hand man. He was assass ...

, who served as the head of national security under the Rhee administration. After many years of living as an exile in his native country, and having never served the remainder of his prison sentence, Ahn was assassinated by Park Gi-seo, a 49-year-old bus driver and admirer of Kim Koo, on 23 October 1996. The weapon used to kill Ahn was a wooden club inscribed with the words, "Justice Stick". Ahn was 79 years old at the time. He was

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

and his ashes were scattered in the Han River. In 2001, declassified United States military documents dating from 1949 revealed that Ahn had been an informant and, later, an agent, for the U.S. Counter-Intelligence Corps (US CIC) in Korea. Those documents also revealed that Ahn was a member of the extremist nationalist group known as the White Clothes Party (백의사 baekuisa, romanised at the time as baikyi-sa).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahn, Doo-hee 1917 births 1996 deaths People from Ryongchon County Assassinated South Korean people Deaths by beating South Korean assassins People murdered in South Korea 1949 murders in South Korea