Kim Jae-gyu, the former chief of the now-defunct Korean Central Intelligence Agency who assassinated former President Park Chung-hee in 1979, has been granted a posthumous retrial. 

The Seoul High Court announced the decision Wednesday. 

Kim shot Park dead on October 26, 1979, along with then-secret service chief Cha Ji-cheol, and was executed in May 1980 after being found guilty of committing murder for the purpose of insurrection. 

In May 2020, Kim’s younger sister and Lawyers for a Democratic Society, or Minbyun, requested a retrial. 

A hearing to review their request was held almost four years later, in April last year.
 
There are mixed historical views about Kim, with some considering him a traitor while others believe he helped accelerate the democratization of South Korea.

Before his execution, Kim said he assassinated Park for democracy and not for personal gain.