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Lee, Hu-rak

Yi became the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) in 1970 and led the 4 July 1972 North-South Joint Communique.

Biography

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LEE HU-RAK (1924-2009). Born in Busan, Lee served as a noncommissioned officer in the army during the Japanese colonial period. He attended the Republic of Korea (ROK) Military Academy after liberation, and from 1963 to 1970 he served as private secretary to President Park Chung Hee. After a brief period as ambassador to Japan in 1970, he became director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA; now the National Intelligence Service of the ROK) the same year. In May 1972, he visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as Park's special envoy. Later that same month, he hosted a return DPRK visit, led by Vice Premier Pak Seong-cheol, which led to the 4 July 1972 North-South Joint Communique. Lee lost his job in 1973 over the KCIA' s kidnapping of opposition leader Kim Dae-jung. In 1979, Lee was elected to the ROK National Assembly but was purged for corruption and banned from politics in 1980. The ban was lifted in 1985 but Lee never returned to public life.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. (Historical Dictionary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, by James E. Hoare, published by RLPG Books, appears by permission of the author and publisher).

Popular Documents

May 4, 1972

Conversation between Kim Il Sung and Lee Hu-rak

Kim Il Sung presents his "Three Principles of National Reunification" as he and Lee Hu-rak debate whetherPak Seong-cheol's visit to Seoul should be preceded by a visit from Kim Yeong-ju.

May 3, 1972

On the Three Principles of National Reunification, Conversations with the South Korean Delegates to the High-Level Political Talks between North and South Korea

Based on Kim Il Sung's conversations with Lee Hu-rak, a number of changes have been made in this officially published record to stress the importance of the "Three Principles of National Reunification."

November 3, 1972

Conversation between Lee Hu-rak and Kim Il Sung

Kim Il Sung stresses the importance of reunification through the formation of the coordinating committee and emphasizes the role inter-Korean economic cooperation in facilitating dialogue.

August 1973

Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Note, No. 01/010124/73, Secret

The document outlines Romania's position regarding the issue of unification of the Korean Peninsula. After a summary of inter-Korean negotiations thus far, the report concludes that the two Koreas are moving very slowly because both sides are attempting to gain advantage over the other. Nonetheless, Romania declares its firm support of the DPRK.

October 23, 1972

Note on Information Given by the 1st Deputy Foreign Minister of the DPRK, Comrade Kim Jae-bong, on 19 October 1972 in the DPRK Foreign Ministry for the Embassies of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Mongolia, and the GDR

Kim Jae-bong briefs communist diplomats about a meeting between the co-chairmen of the North-South Coordinating Committee and the declaration of emergency and martial law in South Korea.