On November 29, 1987, two North Korean agents planted a bomb in the overhead bin of Korean Air flight 858 and then exited the aircraft at a layover in Abu Dhabi. Hours later, the bomb exploded, killing all 104 passengers and 11 crew.
Now South Korea is negotiating with Myanmar to jointly investigate what is believed to be the wreckage, found by a television network using 3D sonar about 170 feet down on the seabed of the Andaman Sea.
The network, MBC, reported on Thursday that President Moon Jae-in has ordered a government-led probe into the site, according to news agency UPI. His government added it could not provide any more details of the preliminary agreement with Myanmar.
MBC made the discovery after local fishermen told them of a large and unnatural object on the seabed, which turned out to be a 33-foot long wing-shaped object and a 90-foot long object that appeared to be a plane’s fuselage.
Following the explosion of the Seoul-bound flight, authorities hunted down the two agents, who tried to commit suicide with cyanide cigarettes. One of them died while the other, Kim Hyon Hui, survived and was extradited to South Korea.
Pardoned for her crimes by then-president Roh Tae-woo, who said she had been brainwashed, Kim Hyon Hui told media that Kim Jong Un’s father Kim Jong Il had ordered the terrorist attack with the aim of damaging South Korea ahead of the country hosting the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
Bereaved families of the victims of the flight have urged the South Korean government to salvage the fuselage.
