Singer Sim admits incarceration after President Park's assassination

Sim Soo-bong

By Kwaak Je-yup

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Sim Soo-bong, a singer and actress who found nationwide fame in the 1970s and '80s but remembered more for her turbulent career and personal life, revealed for the first time on television that she was incarcerated after the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee.

"Even now it's still difficult for me to tell my story from (the day of the incident and its aftermath)", she said to Kim Seung-woo, in a recorded segment for his talk show "Win Win" on Tuesday.

The 56-year-old added that she was forced to listen to her then close acquaintance being tortured next door. Afterwards, she was locked up in a mental institution for nearly a month and injected with drugs used for patients there.

The singer, best known for her 1984 track "Man is a Ship, Woman a Harbor" among a string of hits, did not specify the identity of the man.

Sim was a guest at the banquet hosted by the President on Oct. 26 where he was twice shot by his security chief Kim Jae-kyu. The then 24 year old songstress, along with female college student Shin Jae-sun, also present, were suspected of complying in the plot. She was banned from television and radio until 1981.

Even after she was cleared of suspicion, as an eyewitness she was closely watched for many years.