How a plot to kill Kim Il Sung ended in mutiny and murder

Silmido Island, South Korea (CNN)They were supposed to be a top-secret assassination squad tasked with attacking the residence of North Korea's then-leader Kim Il Sung.
But South Korea's "Unit 684," created in 1968 following a brazen attack by North Korea on Seoul's presidential compound, proved anything but.
The experiment to create a crack team of would-be assassins ended in disaster. Seven lost their lives -- executed for desertion or criminal activity, and dying from fatigue during the arduous training on a remote island. The remaining 24 members turned on their military trainers, killing most of them in a bloody mutiny.
The bizarre and deadly events that unfolded on the island of Silmido were covered up until details were revealed by a South Korean Defense Ministry Truth Commission in 2006. They've also been the subject of a blockbuster movie.
The story resonates today as South Korea embarks on the creation of a new decapitation unit -- something it sees as a much-needed defense against its nuclear-armed neighbor.
"The message is if North Korea attacks South Korea with nuclear weapons, South Korea would go after Kim Jong Un and kill [him]," says professor Park Hwee-rhak at Kookmin University.


Initially, South Korea's intelligence agency planned to recruit convicted prisoners on death row. However, the 2006 Defense Ministry report notes that in the event, intelligence officers "recruited civilians and gave them the mission to 'assault Kim Il Sung's residence.'"
Yang Dong-soo, a former Unit 684 trainer, told CNN team members were recruited largely based on their physical appearance.
"Intelligence officers approached the men who looked like they might have played sports and had a strong physique and recruited them," he says.

Source: cnn