North Korea Renews Claims that It Did Not Hijack Korea Air Flight YS-11

North Korea has renewed its claims that it did not hijack Korean Air flight YS-11 back in 1969:

After half a century, North Korea still insists it did not kidnap the South Korean passengers aboard Korean Air Lines flight YS-11 in 1969, according to a letter released by a United Nations human rights agency Monday.    
   
The incident in question refers to the hijacking of Korean Air Lines (KAL) flight YS-11, which was carrying four crew members and 46 passengers, on Dec. 11, 1969. The plane was destined for Gimpo International Airport, but after taking off from Gangneung, Gangwon, a North Korean spy aboard the plane forced the pilots to redirect the plane to land near Wonsan in North Korea that afternoon.    
   
Pyongyang claimed the pilots had voluntarily defected in protest of the military junta that ruled South Korea at the time.    
   
Thirty-nine passengers were repatriated back to the South two months later, but 11 never returned.   

Joong Ang Ilbo via a reader tip

You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans made this same claim immediately after the hijacking. The North Koreans even put the two pilots, Yu Byong-ha and Choe Sok-man on radio where they confirmed this claim.  However, these claims were dismissed by the ROK authorities because the two pilots were both decorated ROK Air Force veterans who the investigation determined had no reason to defect. 

In fact the ROK authorities investigated the backgrounds of all 46 passengers on board the plane and cleared everyone except for two men, Han Chang-gi and Paek In-yong.  The ROK authorities could not find any background information on these two men leading them to believe they were the hijackers. The pilots’ so called confession on the radio was likely due to the threats made against them by the North Koreans. 

This hijacking ended up causing a huge uproar within South Korean society because this provocation was directed solely at civilians unlike past provocations that were primarily directed at military and government targets. What is really sad about this, is that today in South Korea there is probably a good amount of people who actually believe North Korea’s claim.

You can read much more about this hijacking at the below link: