Woo Bum-kon
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| Birth name | Woo Bum-kon |
|---|---|
| Born | February 24, 1955 Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea |
| Died | April 27, 1982 (aged 27) |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Killings | |
| Date | April 26/27, 1982 |
| Location(s) | Uiryeong, South Korea |
| Killed | 57 |
| Injured | 35 |
| Weapon(s) | Two M2 carbines hand grenades |
| Woo Bum-kon | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 우범곤 |
| Hanja | 禹範坤 |
| Revised Romanization | U Beom-gon |
| McCune–Reischauer | U Pǒmgon |
Woo Bum-kon (or Wou Bom-kon) (February 24, 1955 – April 27, 1982) was a South Korean police officer who carried out the second largest known incident of spree killing in modern history. After the rampage concluded, 57 people (including himself) were dead and 35 were wounded in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea.[1]
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[edit] Life
Woo had served in the South Korean Marines until 1978. In December 1980 he was hired by the National Police in Pusan and settled in the village of Torongni in December 1981, after being transferred to the local police station in Kungyu.[2][3]
[edit] Uiryeong massacre
Woo had an argument with his live-in girlfriend, Chun Mal-soon, on the afternoon of April 26, 1982, after she had woken him by swatting a fly on his chest. Enraged, he left the house and went to the police station, where he reported for duty at 4 pm, and began drinking heavily. At about 7:30 pm Woo returned home, punched and kicked his girlfriend and smashed the furniture, before making his way to the armory. As the other officers were at a meeting, he managed unnoticed to gather an arsenal, consisting of two M2 carbines, 180 rounds of ammunition, and seven hand grenades.[4]
At approximately 9:30 pm Woo began shooting passers-by in a marketplace in the village of Torongni, where he also wounded Chun Mal-soon, who had gone to investigate, after hearing shots in the village. His next stop was at the post office in the nearby village of Kungryu, where he killed three phone operators and cut off the telephone lines to prevent others from calling emergency services. From that point on he proceeded from village to village, taking advantage of his position as a police officer to gain entry to the houses and shoot its inhabitants. That way Woo managed to kill 18 people in the village of Ungye, and 24 more in the village of Pyongchon. At one point, he ordered a 16-year-old boy to get him a soft drink from a grocery store. After getting what he had asked for, Woo shot the boy and his family.
Woo shot most of his victims, but in one case he killed an entire family with a grenade. Although police were alerted one hour after the beginning of the killing spree,[5] he was able to avoid capture and continue his rampage for a full eight hours. In the early hours of April 27, after rampaging through five villages in Uiryeong county, Woo took his final two grenades and strapped them to his body. He hid in the farmhouse belonging to 68-year-old Suh In-Su, holding him and his family captive, when police finally caught up with him. As police forces were closing in, he set the grenades' fuses, killing himself and three hostages. Mr. Suh himself survived gravely injured.
Altogether, with a toll of 57 dead and 35 injured, the rampage of Woo Bum-Kon was the worst killing spree in modern times before the Norway attacks of July 22, 2011.[6] Chun Mal-soon later said that her boyfriend "suffered from an inferiority complex and had been bothered by villagers' comments on their living together unmarried." Later on, the provincial chief of police was suspended, and four other officers were arrested for negligence of duty.[2][7]
[edit] Aftermath
The Interior Minister of South Korea, Suh Chung-hwa and the national police chief, An Eung-mo, offered to resign as a form of atonement for Woo's rampage.[2] Suh Chung-hwa, being held responsible for the incident by president Chun Doo-hwan, lay down his office on April 29, and Roh Tae-woo was appointed Interior Minister.[1][5]
A special parliamentary team was formed, consisting of 19 parliamentarians and led by Home Affairs Committee chairman Kim Chong-hoh, to investigate the shooting and its disastrous handling by the police.[5] Furthermore the South Korean Cabinet decided to pay compensations to the victims and their families.[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "South Korean Shootings Lead Minister to Resign". Around the World article from The New York Times, April 29, 1982.
- ^ a b c Cop kills 55 after quarrel with mistress, New Straits Times (April 28, 1982)
- ^ Berserk Korean policeman kills 62, Gainesville Sun (April 27, 1982)
- ^ Berserk South Korea cop slay total of 56 people, Lodi News-Sentinel (April 28, 1982)
- ^ a b c Minister sacked over massacre, New Straits Times (April 29, 1982)
- ^ Norway massacre 'work of a madman', breakingNEWS.ie (July 23, 2011)
- ^ Seoul is stunned by policeman's slaying of 56, The New York Times (April 28, 1982)
- ^ Victims of amok slayings to get compensation, New Straits Times (April 30, 1982) (p.8)
[edit] External links
- Woo Bum-Kon at FindAGrave.com
- Korean policeman goes berserk, kills 58 people, The Deseret News (April 27, 1982) (p. 1)
- Korean cop's rampage leaves 58 dead, Ocala Star-Banner (April 27, 1982)
- Korean policeman's rampage kills 58, Boca Raton News (April 27, 1982)
- Berserk Korean policeman kills 62, Gainesville Sun (April 27, 1982)
- Drunken South Korean policeman kills 62, The Ledger (April 27, 1982)
- Berserk cop kills 53, Ellensburg Daily Record (April 27, 1982)
- Korean cop massacres 58, Eugene Register-Guard (April 27, 1982)
- Funerals begin for 57 victims of massacre by Korean cop, Ocala Star-Banner (April 28, 1982)
- Korean massacre area flooded with donations, Eugene Register-Guard (April 28, 1982)
- Korean's shooting rampage triggered by swat of a fly, St. Petersburg Times (April 28, 1982)
- Death toll in rampage put at 62, The Age (April 28, 1982)
- Drunken Korean kills 58, The Free-Lance Star (April 27, 1982)
- Murder toll rises to 56, The Straits Times (May 10, 1982)
