Park Chung-hee

From New World Encyclopedia


This is a Korean name; the family name is Park.
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee
5th-9th President of the Republic of Korea
Term of office 1963 (chairman of the SCNR 1961-63) – 1979
Preceded by Yoon Po-son
Succeeded by Choi Kyu-ha
Date of birth September 30 (or November 14), 1917
Place of birth Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
Date of death October 26, 1979
Place of death Seoul
Spouse Yuk Young-soo
Political party Democratic Republican Party
Park Chung-hee
Hangul 박정희
Hanja 朴正熙
Revised Romanization Bak Jeonghui
McCune-Reischauer Pak Chŏnghŭi


Park Chung-hee (September 30 or November 14, 1917 – October 26, 1979) was the president of the Republic of Korea (ROK) from 1961 to 1979, and the dominant figure in South Korea's history since its inception. He rapidly modernized the South through export-led growth, but is also criticized for his authoritarian way of rule, especially after 1971. Today in South Korea, Park is widely respected as his country's most effective leader and the father of its phenomenal economic progress. Time magazine (1999) named him one of the most influential Asians of the Century.

Birth

Park was born in Seonsan, a small town in Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do near Daegu. He was the seventh child from a family of modest means. Park won admission to Daegu Teacher's College through a competitive examination, entering in 1932 and graduating in 1937. His formative years coincided with the Japanese invasion of China, starting with the Manchurian incident in 1931 and culminating in all-out war in 1937. He went on to teach for several years in Mungyeong.

Military career

Park won admission to a two-year training program in Manchukuo, the Japanese puppet state in Manchuria. Under the Japanese policy of sōshi-kaimei, he adopted the Japanese-style name Masao Takagi (高木正雄).[1] He graduated from the Japanese Manchurian military academy at the top of his class in 1942. He then was selected for another two years of training at the Imperial Military Academy in Tokyo as a warrant officer of the Imperial Japanese Army. After he graduated in 1944, Park became an officer of the Kantogun, a unit of the Imperial Japanese Army, and was promoted to lieutenant of the Japanese Manchukuo Imperial Army before the end of the Pacific War in 1945.

Post World War II

In the aftermath of Japan's defeat in World War II, under his communist elder brother's influence, Park joined a communist group, the South Korean Workers' Party, in the American occupation zone, which later became South Korea. Park was involved in a rebellion in Yeosu and Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, led by units of the new American-supported army. Park was arrested and sentenced to life in prison, but the sentence was commuted by President Syngman Rhee on the strong recommendation of Rhee's American military advisor, James Hausman. Park was released soon after revealing names of communist participants to the South Korean authorities. However, the outbreak of the Korean War enabled him to be reinstated, and he served the new nation fighting against the communists.

Ascension to presidency

Rhee, the first president of the Republic of Korea, was forced out of office on April 26, 1960 as an aftermath of the April 19 Movement, a student-led uprising. A new government took office on August 13. This was a short-lived period of parliamentary rule in the Republic of Korea with a figurehead president, Yoon Po-son, in response to the authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Rhee administration. Real power rested with Prime Minister Chang Myon.

Yoon and Chang did not command the respect of the majority of the Democratic Party. They could not agree on the composition of the cabinet and Chang attempted to hold the tenuous coalition together by reshuffling cabinet positions three times within five months.

Political background

Meanwhile, the new government was caught between an economy suffering from a decade of mismanagement and corruption by the Rhee presidency and the students who had led to Rhee's ouster. Students were regularly filling the streets, making numerous and wide-ranging demands for political and economic reforms. Law and order could not be maintained because the police, long an instrument of the Rhee government, were demoralized and had become completely discredited to the public. Continued factional wrangling caused the public to turn away from the party.

Coup d'état

Seizing the moment, Major General Park Chung-hee led a bloodless military coup (called the 5.16 Revolution) on May 16, 1961, a coup largely welcomed by a general populace exhausted by political chaos. Although Chang resisted the coup efforts, President Yoon sided with the junta and persuaded the United States Eighth Army and the commanders of various South Korean army units not to interfere with the new rulers.

Given Park's prior association with communists, Washington was worried he could be a secret communist. Hausman flew to Washington and, supported by the U.S. embassy in Seoul, told high officials there was no cause for concern. However, Park clearly was not the man the U.S. would have endorsed to be Korea's next leader.[2]

The Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) was created on June 19, 1961 to prevent a counter coup and to suppress all potential enemies, domestic and international. It was to have not only investigative power, but also the power to arrest and detain anyone suspected of wrongdoing or harboring anti-junta sentiments. The KCIA extended its power to economic and foreign affairs under its first director, Kim Jong-pil, a relative of Park and one of the original planners of the coup.

Yoon remained in office to provide legitimacy to the regime, but resigned on March 22, 1962. Park Chung-hee was the real power as chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction with rank of General. Following pressure from the Kennedy administration in the United States, a civilian government was restored, with Park narrowly winning the 1963 election as the candidate of the newly-created Democratic Republican Party over Yoon, candidate of the Civil Rule Party. He was re-elected in 1967, again defeating Yoon by a narrow margin.

First two terms as president

Economic reform

File:SEATOledere.jpg
President Park Chung-hee at a SEATO convention. He is third from the left.

Park played a pivotal role in the development of South Korea's economy by shifting its focus to export-oriented industrialization. Park's model of economic development was Japan's highly successful postwar system. When he came to power in 1961, South Korean per capita income was only USD 72, and North Korea was the greater economic and military power on the peninsula because northern Korea was industrialized under the Japanese regime due to its proximity to Manchuria and greater abundance of natural resources. During Park's tenure, per capita income increased twenty-fold, and South Korea's rural, undeveloped economy was transformed into an industrial powerhouse. Even President Kim Dae-jung, one of Park's most outspoken opponents during his rule, retrospectively praised him for his role in creating modern-day South Korea. [1]

The strength of Park's leadership was evidenced by the remarkable development of industries and rise in the standard of living of average South Korean citizens during his presidency. Park's 1965 normalization of diplomatic relations with Japan had been extremely unpopular at the time and resulted in widespread unrest as memories of Japan's 35-year brutal colonization of Korea were still vivid. However, by normalizing relations with Japan, Park opened the door to Japanese capital. Japanese assistance — although criticized by many Koreans as too little to compensate for the 35 years of occupation by Imperial Japan — along with American aid, helped restore the South's depleted capital. Nonetheless, with North Korea's stronger economy at the time, Park did not have the options or time to negotiate for more fitting reparations and apologies. This matter still plagues Japan and South Korea's relationship today.

Agricultural reform

The New Community Movement, also known as the New Village Movement or Saemaeul Undong, was a highly successful initiative launched by Park in the early 1970s to modernize the rural South Korean economy. It has since become a model for other undeveloped nations.

Key to its success was motivating the rural community toward self-help and cooperation. Saemaul Undong consisted of three components: mental, behavioral and environmental. The mental campaign included improving relations with one's neighbors, advancing traditional ethics, and strengthening community awareness. The behavioral campaign emphasized public order, public manners, and prohibition of public drunkeness. The environmental aspect stressed cleanliness around one's home or business, and developing greener cities and streams.

Saemaul Undong was at its core not just a government-backed action project but a revolution of thinking based on the conviction that anything can be done if there is the will to do it. It represented a struggle for a better life, not only for the individual but also for the benefit of society as a whole; i.e., wealth is both a mental as well as material concept. Saemaul Undong's ethics and values were seen as the essence for building a new society and prosperous nation, and by extension, even bringing peace and order to mankind.

Through this movement, thatched-roof rural dwellings in the South were replaced by those built of tiles and cement; rural agricultural output reached unprecedented levels. By 1974, rural income had surpassed urban income. By 1978, 98% of all villages had become self-reliant.

Authoritarianism

As President, Park clamped down on personal freedoms under the provisions of a state of emergency dating to the Korean War (1950-53). Constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and the press meant little. The KCIA retained broad powers to arrest and detain anyone on any charge.

The electoral system was also heavily rigged in favor of Park's Democratic Republican Party, which routinely won large majorities in the National Assembly. In spite of this, Park was narrowly reelected in 1967 against Yoon.

Yushin Constitution

The Constitution of 1963 barred a South Korean president from seeking a third consecutive term. However, with the assistance of the KCIA, Park's allies in the legislature succeeded in amending the Constitution to allow the current president—himself—to run for three consecutive terms. In 1971, Park narrowly defeated Kim Dae-jung in the general election.

Just after being sworn in for his third term, Park declared a state of emergency "based on the dangerous realities of the international situation." In October 1972, he dissolved Parliament and suspended the Constitution. In December, a new constitution, the Yushin Constitution, was approved in a heavily-rigged plebiscite. It borrowed the word "Yushin" from the Meiji Restoration (Meiji Yushin) of Imperial Japan. The new document dramatically increased Park's power. It transferred the election of the president to an electoral college, the National Conference for Unification. The presidential term was increased to six years, with no limits on reelection, in effect, converting Park's presidency into a legal dictatorship. Park was re-elected in 1972 and 1978 with no opposition.

Assassination attempts

The Blue House Raid

On January 21, 1968, a 31-man detachment from the North Korean 124th Army Unit which had been secretly sent to South Korea to kill Park Chung-hee came close to succeeding. It had crossed the DMZ on January 17, and spent two days infiltrating towards Seoul before being spotted by four South Korean civilians. After spending several hours trying to indoctrinate the civilians about the benefits of communism, the North Korean infiltrators let the civilians free with a stern warning not to notify the police. However, the South Korean civilians went to the police that night and the local police chief promptly notified his chain of command, which reacted promptly.

The infiltrators entered Seoul in two- and three-man cells on January 20 and noticed the increased security measures that had been implemented throughout the city. Realizing their original plan had little chance of success, the team leader improvised a new one. Changing into ROK Army uniforms of the local 26th Infantry Division, complete with the correct unit insignia, which they had brought with them, they prepared to march the last mile to the Blue House, posing as ROK Army soldiers returning from a counter guerrilla patrol. The unit marched toward the Blue House, passing several National Police and ROK Army units en route. Approximately 800 meters from the Blue House, a police contingent finally halted the unit and began to question them. The nervous North Koreans fumbled their replies, and when one suspicious policeman drew his pistol, a commando shot him. A melee then ensued in which two infiltrators died. The rest of the North Koreans scattered and fled towards the DMZ.

For the next several days, South Korean and American soldiers and police cooperated in a massive manhunt. Three infiltrators were pursued and killed in the Seoul area, while 25 others were eventually hunted down and killed in various firefights, with one infiltrator captured. Only two of the thirty-one North Koreans could not be accounted for. During the course of this assassination attempt, South Korean casualties totaled sixty-eight killed and sixty-six wounded - mainly army and police but also about two dozen civilians. Three Americans also died and three fell wounded in attempts to block the escaping infiltrators.[3]

Second Attempt

On August 15, 1974, Park was delivering a speech during a ceremony to celebrate the nation's deliverance from Japanese colonial domination 29 years before, when North Korean agent Mun Se-gwang fired a gun at Park from the front row. The bullets missed the president (who finished his speech), but a stray bullet struck his wife Yuk Young-soo, who died later in the day.

Assassination

On October 26, 1979, Park was gunned down by Kim Jae-kyu, the director of the KCIA. Kim claimed that Park was an obstacle to democracy and that his act was one of patriotism. After Kim shot the president to death and the leader of his guards, his agents quickly killed four more of the presidential bodyguards before the group was apprehended. The entire episode has been considered either a spontaneous act of passion by an individual or as part of a prearranged attempted coup by the intelligence service, [2]with the latter being more widely believed.

The events surrounding Park's assassination inspired the 2005 black comedy "Geuddae geusaramdeul" (English title: "The President's Last Bang") by Korean director Im Sang-soo.

Park Chung-hee is buried at Seoul National Cemetery.

Legacy

It is maintained by supporters that despite his dictatorial rule and the high growth that occurred during his years in power, Park did not engage in corruption and led a simple life. Detractors allege he was simply a brutal dictator and only brought about high growth through military control over labor.

Being a complex man as a policymaker, many Koreans continue to hold Park in high regard in great part due to the industrial and economic growth experienced by South Korea under his presidency. There are also many on the left who condemn Park for the brutality of his dictatorship and for his service to the Japanese army during World War II. Today, Park's critics deplore the widespread human rights abuses in South Korea during his rule.

One of the most notorious cases of Park's abuses was his order that a leading political rival, Kim Dae-jung (who himself finally became president of the ROK in 1998) be killed for opposing his 1972 imposition of martial law. In August 1973, Kim was abducted by KCIA operatives while visiting Japan, beaten, and brought aboard a boat bound and weighted from which he was to be thrown into the ocean; only the timely intervention of U.S. Ambassador Philip Habib saved his life. Had Kim been killed, Habib believed, a serious crisis within South Korea and between the ROK and Japan would have erupted. Habib threatened "grave consequences" for U.S.-ROK relations if Kim were killed; five days later, Kim was released a few blocks from his home in Seoul.

In 2005, South Korean authorities released a list of "collaborators" who had worked to assist the Japanese during the occupation period (see Korea under Japanese rule). Park's name was in the list.

His daughter , National Assembly member Park Geun-hye, was elected chairwoman of the conservative Grand National Party in 2004. She has resigned her post in order to prepare a presidential bid for the upcoming election. [3]

Notes

  1. (Japanese) Nagasawa, Masaharu (2001-11-23). "半島に渡った日本語・日本語文学". Saga Women's Junior College. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  2. Oberdorfer, Don, "The Two Koreas: a Contemporary History," Addison-Wesley, 1997, p. 32
  3. Scenes from an Unfinished War: Low-Intensity Conflict in Korea, 1966-1968

See also

External links

Preceded by:
Yoon Po-son
President of South Korea
1963–1979
Succeeded by:
Choi Kyu-ha


Flag of South Korea.svg
Presidents of South Korea
Provisional Government: Rhee Syng-man | Park Eunsik | Yi Sang-ryong | Hong Jin | Yi Dong-nyung | Kim Gu
Republic: Rhee Syng-man | Yun Bo-seon | Park Chung-hee | Choe Kyu-hah | Chun Doo-hwan | Roh Tae-woo | Kim Young-sam | Kim Dae-jung | Roh Moo-hyun | Goh Kun (Acting) | Roh Moo-hyun | Lee Myung-bak | Park Geun-hye | Hwang Kyo-ahn (Acting) | Moon Jae-in

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