A North Korean soldier involved in a failed assassination attempt on the South Korean President has died.

Kim Shin-jo, who 'rediscovered' himself as a pastor, was involved in an unsuccessful assassination attempt against South Korean President Park Chung-hee in 1968.

Former North Korean soldier Kim Shin-jo, who participated in the failed assassination attempt against South Korean President Park Chung-hee in 1968, passed away at the age of 82 on Thursday. Shin-jo was the only soldier captured alive during the assassination attempt. He had confessed that they came to kill the South Korean President 'by cutting his throat.' The Seoul administration later pardoned Shin-jo. He then rediscovered himself as a pastor in South Korea. The Sungrak Church in Seoul, where he served for many years as a pastor, reported that Shin-jo died in a nursing home. In January 1968, Shin-jo and about 30 North Korean soldiers managed to cross the heavily fortified border between the two countries to kill President Chung-hee. All but a few of the North Korean soldiers were killed by South Korean forces in nearly two weeks of fighting. It was believed that one or two survivors returned to North Korea. However, the only soldier who surrendered was Shin-jo. He claimed that he was pardoned because he did not fire a shot during the clashes. The assassination attempt occurred 15 years after the Korean War, at a time when the rivalry between the two countries had reached its peak. The North Korean soldier, who rejected communism, traveled throughout South Korea, giving speeches criticizing life in the North. He later learned that his family had been executed through North Korean defectors.