Tensions between South Korea and the North remained high after the Korean War, exacerbated by such incidents as the assassination attempt on Park Chung-Hee by North Korean commandos in 1968, the bombing in Rangoon in 1983, and the North’s destruction by time bomb of a South Korean airliner over the Thai-Burmese border in 1987. The first significant contact between the two states occurred in early 1972, when the Park government carried out secret negotiations with North Korea. A joint statement was issued in July that announced agreement on a formula for national reunification. The ensuing dialogue between North and South, however, was short-lived.
