September 28 Incident or Assassination Attempt on Vice President Chang Myon was an event in which South Korea's fourth vice president Chang Myon (張勉) was shot by Kim Sang-bung and others at Seoul Sigwan Hall on September 28, 1956.1, While attending the Democratic Party national convention held at Seoul Sigwan Hall, he was shot in the left hand by bullets fired by five men, including Choi Hun and Kim Sang-bung, who fired from the corridor as he was descending after finishing a speech at the podium. Blood flowed from his hand, but Chang Myon waved his hand, saying he was fine, and came down. He suffered a gunshot wound through his left hand, and the assailants, including Kim Sang-bung, shouted "Long live Dr. Cho Byung-ok" and fled. The assailants were arrested near the scene immediately, and Choi Hun, identified as the person behind the attack, was detained on October 1.
At the time, the assailants shouted "Long live Dr. Cho Byung-ok" at the scene in an attempt to make the attack appear to be the result of a factional conflict within the Democratic Party. Investigations by Seoul District Prosecutors' Office prosecutor Lee Hong-gyu and others revealed the possible involvement of the Ministry of Home Affairs behind the attack. All of the assailants were sentenced to death, but all were commuted after Chang Myon appealed for leniency.
List of Persons Involved
Parties Present at the Scene
- Chang Myon - Vice President of South Korea, whose left hand was pierced by bullets fired by five men, including Choi Hun, and who was hospitalized
- Kwak Sang-hoon - Leader of the New Faction of the Democratic Party
- Cho Byung-ok - Leader of the Old Faction of the Democratic Party
- Choi Hun - Shooter in the assassination attempt on Vice President Chang Myon
- Kim Sang-bung - Shooter in the assassination attempt on Vice President Chang Myon
Participants in the Incident
- Choi Hun - Shooter in the assassination attempt on Vice President Chang Myon (sentence commuted through the leniency of Vice President Chang Myon)
- Kim Sang-bung - Shooter in the assassination attempt on Vice President Chang Myon (sentence commuted through the leniency of Vice President Chang Myon)
- Lee Deok-sin -
- Im Heung-sun -
Other Related Persons
Early Stage of the Incident
An assassination attempt on Chang Myon occurred when he attended the national convention of the Democratic Party held at Sigwan Hall. At around 2:38 p.m. on September 28, 1956, Vice President Chang Myon, who had attended the Democratic Party national convention, was wounded in his left hand by bullets fired by Democratic Party member Kim Sang-bung. The police arrested Choi Hun, a executive of the Democratic Party's Seongdong District Party Committee in Seoul, as the person behind the attack, but could not uncover anyone further behind it.
Moment of the Incident
Although Chang Myon had been informed by party members of assassination threats, at 2:00 p.m. on September 28, 1956, he attended the Democratic Party national convention held at Sigwan Hall in Seoul at the request of party members who wished to see him. At around 2:38 p.m., as he was coming down after finishing his speech, he was wounded in his left hand by bullets fired by five men, including Democratic Party members Kim Sang-bung and Choi Hun. At the scene, the assassins shouted "Long live Dr. Cho Byung-ok" in an attempt to conceal the incident as an internal conflict within the Democratic Party. Chang Myon, helped up by his aides, waved his hand to show that he was still alive.
Progress
On October 4, 1956, a special National Assembly investigative committee on the shooting incident was formed,1 and Seoul District Prosecutors' Office prosecutor Lee Hong-gyu pursued the case, interrogated the suspects, and obtained confessions that the Ministry of Home Affairs had been involved behind the scenes.3 For his success in investigating the 9·28 Incident, Lee Hong-gyu earned the nickname "Prosecutor who Eradicates Evil" for uncovering the assassination attempt on Vice President Chang Myon.4
In December, the trial for the shooting incident was held. On February 26, 1957, after expressing his grievances over various unfortunate incidents, the Liberal Party issued a rebuttal statement on February 27, saying that he should not incite the masses. From March to November, he appeared in court as both a victim and a witness in the Vice President shooting incident.1 However, in the final hearing, when the death sentence for the assailants was confirmed, Chang Myon appealed for leniency and arranged for the commutation of the assailants' sentences.
On January 1, 1957, the wife of Choi Hun identified former Seongdong Police Station Surveillance Chief Lee Deok-sin as the person behind the attack, and the prosecution also detained Lee Deok-sin. In court, Choi Hun revealed that he believed "Kim Jong-won, Director of the Public Security Bureau, was behind it," but Kim Jong-won vehemently denied this. Although the National Assembly investigation team found that police officials, including Jang Yeong-bok, Special Intelligence Division Chief of the Public Security Bureau, had orchestrated the attack from behind, this too fizzled out.
In March 1957, the defendants were sentenced to death in the prosecution's request, but the final sentence in November 1957 was also death. However, Chang Myon, who was convinced that Yi Ki-bung and the Liberal Party were behind the assassination, requested Syngman Rhee, the president, to show leniency toward the defendants in the shooting incident.1
On September 28, 1956, Kim Sang-bung and others present at the Democratic Party national convention held at Seoul Sigwan Hall shouted "Long live Yuseok Cho Byung-ok," while other accomplices shouted "Long live Haegong," attempting to make it appear to be the work of the Democratic Party itself. Five men, including Kim Sang-bung, were arrested at the scene. However, the perpetrators refused to make statements about who was behind the attack. On October 1, 1957, Choi Hun was detained as the person behind the September 28 shooting, and on October 4, a special investigative committee on the assassination attempt on Vice President Chang Myon was formed.1 The first trial opened on December 1, and on December 18, testimony was obtained at the shooting trial that Lee Deok-sin and Police Chief Kim Jong-won had ordered the crime. On March 21, the death sentence was pronounced on Lee Deok-sin, Choi Hun, Kim Sang-bung, and five others. On November 1, the Supreme Court's final hearing on the shooting incident finally sentenced seven assailants to death. However, on November 2, Chang Myon petitioned for leniency toward the seven assailants, and their sentences were reduced from death to life imprisonment.
Conclusion
After the April 19 Revolution succeeded in 1960, Kim Jong-won was brought to court, and he revealed that "Im Heung-sun, former Seoul Mayor, ordered the assassination attempt on Dr. Chang Myon," thereby bringing the backdrop of the incident to light. In other words, it was revealed that 40 days before the incident, Yi Ki-bung, the second-in-command of the Liberal Party, instructed Im Heung-sun; Im instructed Interior Minister Yi Ik-heung; Yi instructed Kim Jong-won; Kim instructed Jang Yeok-bok; Jang instructed Park Sa-il, Director of the Central Surveillance Branch; Park instructed Oh Chung-hwan, Chief of the Surveillance Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police; and Oh instructed Lee Deok-sin, in that order.
Results of the Incident
Lee Hong-gyu, the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office prosecutor who investigated the case, gained fame after his investigative ability was recognized. However, the Liberal Party regime's checks and surveillance against Chang Myon became overt, and the government took extreme measures by sentencing Cho Bong-am to death in the case of his receipt of political funds.
Footnotes