[3] The raid was launched by North Korean armed spies to assassinate the President of South Korea, Kim Young-sam, during his visit to Chunchon, on 5 October 1996.

[4] Months after the start of the incident North Korea issued a rare apology for the events and ensuing loss of life.

[5] On 15 September 1996, a North Korean Sang-O-class submarine landed a three-person special operations reconnaissance team on the east coast of South Korea near Jeongdongjin, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south-east of Kangnung, Kangwon Province.

[citation needed] President Kim was planning to visit Chuncheon to open a national sports event to be held on 7 October.

[2][6] A 49-day-long manhunt ensued, from September 18 to November 5, resulting in the capture or death of all of the commandos except one,[2] who is believed to have made it back to North Korea.

[7] The diary further tells of how the pair lived for two weeks in a shelter they dug in the side of a mountain before making the push north to the border.

[1] In reciprocity, the South Korean government returned the cremated remains of the soldiers to the North via Panmunjom the very next day, the first event of its kind between the neighboring countries.