He remains a controversial figure with many contradictions: he is regarded by some as a patriot who ended Park's 18-year military dictatorship, and by others as a traitor who killed his long-time benefactor out of personal grievance.

He is the 27th generation descendant of Kim Moon-gi (김문기;金文起) who was the civil minister (문신;文臣), the loyalist (충신;忠臣) of King Danjong, and the one of Samjungsin (삼중신;三重臣) during the Joseon period.

On the other hand, it is also said that Kim refused to involve the Army in the arrest of civilians and left that task to the police; instead ordering his troops to occupy themselves with the clean-up of streets and the university campus.

He also opposed the formation of Hanahoe, a secret organization formed by Chun Doo-hwan and other young officers who took personal oaths of loyalty to Park and the group itself above all else, and criticized it as a private army.

In the 1971 election, Park had nearly lost to opposition leader Kim Dae-jung despite spending ten percent of the national budget on his reelection campaign.

[2] More significantly, Kim appears to have had a close relationship with Jang Jun-ha, widely respected leader of the democracy movement as a former Liberation Army officer, opposition lawmaker, and publisher of the monthly journal World of Ideology.

As Construction Minister (1974–1976), Kim promoted the entry of Korean construction companies into Saudi Arabia, increasing South Korean exports to the Middle East twenty-fold, from $45 million in 1973 to $900 million in 1976, making Saudi Arabia the fourth most important overseas market,[4] and helping South Korea weather the 1973 oil crisis.

The KCIA was created in 1961 to coordinate both international and domestic intelligence activities including those of the military with primary aim of combating communism and North Korea.

The KCIA was responsible for widespread violations of human rights in South Korea, engaging in torture, political murder, and kidnapping.

Later Kim claimed that he did not want the position but thought that it would give him the best chance to persuade President Park and reform the Yushin system.

[1] Declassified U.S. diplomatic cables revealed that Kim was considered an unusual KCIA director who often spoke of democracy, and one of the more approachable figures who often carried Washington's messages on human rights to Park.

In May 1979, Kim Young-sam was elected as the chairman of the NDP, despite intense behind-the-scene maneuverings by KCIA to back Yi Chul-seung, a more pliable candidate.

Under Kim Young-sam's leadership, the NDP took the hardline policy of never compromising or cooperating with Park until the repeal of Yushin Constitution, and took on direct confrontation in many issues, especially the aforementioned YH Trade case.

[citation needed] The political tension intensified further when Kim Young-sam gave an interview with New York Times reporter Henry Stokes, in which he called on the United States to make a choice between the military dictatorship and the Korean people and stop supporting Park's regime.

Uprisings broke out in Kim Young-sam's hometown in Busan on October 16, the second largest city in South Korea, resulting in arson of 30 police stations over several days.

It was the largest demonstration since the days of President Syngman Rhee and spread to nearby Masan on October 19 and other cities, with students and citizens calling for repeal of the Yushin Constitution.

Kim Jae-gyu went to Busan to investigate the situation and found that the demonstrations were not riots by some college students, but more like a "popular uprising joined by regular citizens" to resist the regime.

[citation needed] Kim's position, already under stress of the series of political crises of 1979, was further complicated by his rivalry with Cha Ji-cheol, chief of the Presidential Security Service, as well as a worsening relationship with Park.

The rivalry stemmed largely from Cha's increasing encroachment into KCIA turf and arrogant behavior that belittled Kim Jae-gyu in public.

Cha easily bested his opponent as his hardline approach was favored by Park, and he blamed worsening development on Kim Jae-gyu's weak leadership of KCIA at every opportunity.

[citation needed] On the day of assassination, Park and his entourage visited ribbon-cutting ceremonies for a dam in Sap-gyeo-cheon and a KBS TV transmitting station in Dang-jin.

Kim Jae-gyu was expected to accompany him since the TV station was under KCIA jurisdiction, but Cha blocked him from riding in the same helicopter with President Park.

Each time the discussion drifted to other subjects, Cha continued to bring up the inability of KCIA to end the crisis and suggested that demonstrators and opposition lawmakers should be "mowed down with tanks."

[7] Kim Jae-gyu reentered the room with a semi-automatic Walther PPK pistol, shot Cha in the arm and then Park in the left chest.

In the process, Chun Doo-hwan emerged as a new political force by investigating and subordinating KCIA under his Security Command and later by arresting Jeong Seung-hwa, who had become the chief martial law administrator and Chief Secretary Kim on suspicion of conspiring with Director Kim, when Chun Doo-hwan seized power in the Coup d'état of December Twelfth 1979.