Turning Back the Clock (re. Terrorist attack on the Korean Air Flight 858 in 1987)

A commission seeks to be the sole investigator in the explosion of Korean Air Flight 858 over Myanmar en route from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok in 1987. Ahn Byung-ook, president of the relevant truth and reconciliation commission, said that regardless of the surrounding circumstances, his commission will call on Kim Hyon-hi for questioning.The bombing killed all 115 on board. Kim, then 26, is one of two North Korean agents who boarded the plane in Baghdad and departed during its stopover in Abu Dhabi having left a time bomb in an overhead compartment.In recent months, she has reportedly expressed in her letters complaints over attempts to unearth the truth of the bombing. She was quoted as having complained that she was undergoing a fifth investigation after those conducted by the court and the nation's spy agency.As for her alleged complaints, Ahn said there have been ceaseless suspicions of the bombing because of what he called poor investigations by the now-defunct Agency for National Security Planning, predecessor of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), or its misunderstanding.The woman was said to have changed her mind and alleged that during the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration, she was coerced by some NIS officials to confess that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had not ordered the bombing.Asked about her allegation at the National Assembly earlier this month, NIS Chief Kim Sung-ho said because of her misunderstanding, part of the matter was fabricated, according to a lawmaker who attended the session. The spy chief, however, did not elaborate.Given the situation and remarks made by people concerned, there are few reasons for discouraging the truth commission from turning back the clock to reveal the true picture of the 1987 bombing.In Spain, the National Court recently launched a criminal investigation into a crimes-against-humanity case from about seven decades ago which, according to the Associated Press, has no statute of limitations, according to Judge Baltasar Garzon. Tens of thousands of civilians were executed or disappeared during the 1936-39 Civil War involving supporters of Gen. Francisco Franco, particularly those who backed and elected the leftist Republican government under the ensuing right-wing rule of Franco.The Franco regime is accused of having eliminated his opponents and hidden their bodies. Exhumation of 19 common graves is a key part of investigations into people killed by the pro-Franco group during the war, the AP said.Similar truth-finding work for past history settlement can be found in other countries as well as nations involved in World War I and II. The commission has been seeking to build an international alliance to help do their respective truth-finding work more easily. The commission already signed a memorandum of understanding with Chile, and work is underway to ink an MOU with Argentina.Domestically, the three-year-old commission has recently helped a man who spent 15 years behind bars for murder be finally cleared of the charges. A district court acquitted Jeong Won-seop of strangling a nine-year-old girl after raping her.After being sentenced to life imprisonment, Jeong contended that police had tortured him into a false confession and fabricated evidence ― the authorities had abused power ― but a high court rejected his appeal. He then brought the case to the commission, which recommended that the case be reviewed. The panel can neither prosecute nor award compensation.Jeong, who is in his 70s, may seek compensation from the state, but nothing could offset the suffering he has underwent for decades.Another finding made by the commission is that the regime led by Chun Doo-hwan, an Army general who took power in a 1979 coup, ordered the now-disbanded Ministry of Government Administration to disqualify five successful applicants from the state exam for public servants in 1980 and 1981 for their role in anti-government rallies. One of them, Park Mun-hwa, failed to pass the annual exam for the second consecutive time and committed suicide.Every nation needs a body empowered to investigate wrongdoings committed by the authorities ― cases to which no statute of limitations should be applied.jckim@koreatimes.co.kr