A fresh autopsy on the remains of a prominent South Korean dissident has found a large hole in his skull, his family said Wednesday, renewing suspicions of murder surrounding his 1975 death.
Suspicions have lingered over the death of Chang Joon-ha, one of South Korea's best-known dissidents who defiantly stood up against the authoritarian government of then President Park Chung-hee, after he was found dead at a mountain at the age of 60.
After an investigation, the government announced at the time that Chang fell to his death while climbing down a peak, though various circumstances pointed to possible murder, such as the fact that he tried to climb down the steep peak without proper climbing gear.
Suspicions were widespread that the government was behind his death.
In 2004, a state commission tasked with clearing up suspicions surrounding such "suspicious deaths" looked into Chang's case again, but concluded that it was impossible to determine the exact cause of his death.
On Wednesday, Chang's son, Chang Ho-kwon, 63, said that a large hole, about 5 to 6 centimeters in diameter, was found in his father's skull, and foresic experts determined that it was an injury caused "artificially."
The family exhumed the remains to move his grave to another place, he said.
"Anybody who sees this would know that this circular hole was made while bones broke and caved in after being struck hard by a weapon," the son said. "What remains is to determine who did this. I will work on this from now on." (Yonhap)
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