The day Seoul masqueraded as Pyongyang

On the 31st of March, 1950, Japan air flight 351 took off with 129 people (including the crew), which developed into what is popularly known as the Yodogo hijacking incident.

Approximately 20 minutes after take-off a young man by the name of Takamaro Tamiya drew his katana and announced his intent of hijacking the plane resulting in the other hijackers drawing their weapons too. They further instructed the pilot to take the plane towards Havana, Cuba, where they wished to get training to be part of the Red cross army. Upon being informed the plane is not capable to do that journey and will need to refuel, the hijackers wanted to go to Pyongyang, North Korea to refuel after stopping to refuel in Fukuoka. Upon arrival at Fukuoka, the police convinced the hijackers to release the majority of their hostages, and the pilots were given a map of the Korean Peninsula Attached to the map was a note which instructed the pilots to tune their radios to a specific frequency. The ATC staff, who were aware of the situation, intentionally gave the pilots incorrect directions in an effort to have them land at Gimpo airport in Seoul, South Korea.

At the Gimpo airport the staff made every effort to disguise the airport as the one in Pyongyang by hosting North Korean flags and had the military wear North Korean uniforms, but the hijackers figured something was wrong. Japan’s vice minister for transport Shinjiro Yamamura, had volunteered to take the place of the remaining hostages, to which the hijackers accepted. They then proceeded to Pyongyang airport with Yamamura now as hostage, where they surrendered to the authorities, who offered the whole group asylum.

Using North Korea as a base, they sought to incite rebellion in South Korea and elsewhere across East Asia. The plane carrying Vice Minister Yamamura and the remainder of the crew was released two days later on April 5.