Jan. 23 (UPI) — A South Korean television network says the wreckage of Korean Air Flight 858, which exploded midair on Nov. 29, 1987, may have been found in the Andaman Sea near Myanmar following a yearlong investigation.
MBC reported Thursday the plane carrying 115 passengers and crew, bombed by North Korean spy Kim Hyon-hui, was never recovered following the attack.
The wreckage was detected using a 3D sonar. The South Korean television crew focused on an area after local fishermen spoke of a “large object” located about 164 feet beneath the water’s surface.
The crew was able to identify a 33 foot-long wing-shaped object in the shadows of the seabed. An object that appeared to an engine was also found, according to the report.
The fuselage of a plane, measuring about 90 feet long, was nearby as well, MBC reported.
Other objects were crushed beyond recognition, but appeared to be debris and machine parts.
Kim Sung-jeon, a former civil aircraft pilot and aviation expert, told the network the wing-like object was likely the outside portion of the left wing of the plane.
Kim Hyon-hui, the North Korean terrorist who was captured then attempted suicide, confessed to planting the bomb on the flight. She later resettled in the South.
Kim was in the news in 2018 for attacking the families of perished victims, calling them pro-Pyongyang collaborators.
Seoul pardoned Kim more than three decades ago, but civic groups want more information on the attack, which is classified, according to Yonhap.
South Korean news service Tongil News has sued Seoul’s national intelligence service for not disclosing more information. Plaintiffs say they want to know whether the attack was used for political purposes ahead of a presidential election in 1987.
