World IN BRIEF : SOUTH KOREA : Knew It Was KAL Jet, Soviet Pilot Tells TV

The Soviet pilot who shot down a South Korean airliner in 1983, killing all 269 people on board, said he knew he was firing missiles at a commercial plane, South Korean television reported. The pilot, Gennady Osipovich, had told the Soviet newspaper Izvestia in January that Soviet military officials lied about details of the incident. But the television report was the first quoting Osipovich as saying he knew he was firing at a commercial plane. The account contradicted Moscow’s official stand on the downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007. The pilot, now retired, was interviewed at his home.