1971 Korean Air Lines Fokker F27 hijacking

Common card · No. 435321

On January 23, 1971, a domestic passenger flight from Sokcho Airport to Seoul–Gimpo International Airport that became the target of a hijacking attempt. Shortly after takeoff, a North Korean sympathizer armed with a hand grenade attempted to divert the aircraft to North Korea. During a struggle in the cockpit, the grenade detonated, killing the hijacker and the co-pilot, and injuring several others. Despite severe damage to the cockpit, the captain—later identified as one of Korean Air’s senior pilots—managed to make an emergency crash-landing on a beach near Sokcho, Gangwon Province, saving the majority of the 50 passengers and crew on board. The incident was one of the earliest failed hijacking attempts in South Korea’s aviation history and highlighted the country’s tense security climate during the Cold War. Later retrospectives described the event as a remarkable act of airmanship, as the captain managed to bring the aircraft safely down on the shoreline with minimal loss of life.

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