Home > Opinion > Meanwhile

Police officer Woo’s massacre and a state’s long silence

Published: 27 Apr. 2026, 00:05

Roh Jeong-tae

The author is a writer and senior fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.

Woo Bum-kon, a low-ranking police officer, was known for exceptional marksmanship. In the Marine Corps, he had been recognized as a top shooter, and his skills later won him a post in the 101 Security Unit guarding the presidential office. But he was also notorious for a violent temper and drinking problem, earning him the nickname “mad tiger.” Although judged unfit for duty, he was not dismissed. After serving at Uiryeong Police Station, he was transferred on Dec. 30, 1981, to the Gungnyu substation in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang.

Oh Tae-wan, then Uiryeong County governor of South Gyeongsang, lays flowers at a memorial service for the so-called “Woo Bum-kon shooting incident” at the Uiryeong April 26 Memorial Park in Pyeongchon-ri, Gungnyu-myeon, Uiryeong, on the morning of April 26, 2024. The incident refers to a massacre carried out from the night of April 26 to the early hours of the following day in 1982, when Woo Bum-kon, a police officer assigned to the Gungnyu substation of Uiryeong Police Station, seized firearms and ammunition and killed 56 residents in the area, while leaving more than 30 others dead or seriously injured. [YONHAP]

The following year, Woo began living with a local woman. His state of mind reportedly deteriorated as her family opposed their relationship and marriage. One afternoon, the woman returned home before an evening shift and swatted a fly that had landed on Woo’s chest while he slept. A quarrel followed. After leaving for the substation, Woo returned home drunk at about 7:30 p.m., assaulted her and left again when neighbors rebuked him.

He then armed himself with carbines, ammunition and grenades taken from a reserve forces armory. At around 9:40 p.m., he began moving through Gungnyu and nearby villages, firing at residents. The killings were chillingly unhurried. He even stopped at a wake, offered condolences, drank alcohol and then resumed shooting. Police and the government deployed combat police units but failed to halt him in time, exposing grave failures in command, staffing and response.

The rampage ended only around 5:35 a.m. the next day. In a house in Pyeongchon-ri, Woo detonated two grenades, killing four members of one family and himself. The massacre left 56 people dead at the scene and 34 others seriously wounded. It occurred on April 27, 1982, and remains one of the deadliest mass shootings in Korea’s modern history.

The tragedy did not end with the gunfire. The military government focused on controlling coverage and containing the scandal rather than openly confronting the disaster. Even after democratization, remembrance was delayed for decades. No proper public memorial was held by either government or civic groups until Uiryeong County organized a memorial service in 2024, 42 years later. A formal police apology came only the following year.

The shooting may have begun as one man’s violent breakdown. What followed, however, was a broader institutional failure by the police and the state. May the victims rest in peace and their bereaved families finally find some measure of calm.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.