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Post War South Korea
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THE PARK CHUNG HEE GOVERNMENT 1961 - 1979
General Park Chung Hee, right The Rhee regime became increasingly dictatorial and corrupt until it was forced out of office by a student led revolt. in 1960.On 16 May 1961, led by General Park Chung Hee, a group of mid- and upper-level officers forced the resignation of President Yun and established a military government in an effort to restore order to the political and social chaos and pull the country out of its economic malaise. Park was a Japanese trained officer who had flirted with communism after the Japanese surrender. Kin Il Sung sent a trusted aide tp talk with Park, Park had him arressted and executed.Martial law was instituted, the National Assembly dissolved, political party politics stopped, and the first five-year economic plan created. All functions of government were taken over by the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (chaired by General Park), which had many military and supportive civilian leaders in top posts.
the only survivor of a 31 man assassination team from North Korea disguised as South Korean soldiers ids bodies of his comrades in 1968. 68 South Koreans and 3 Americans were killed trying to capture them.Three days later, January 23, the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea Through 1963 dissatisfaction with military rule grew. The government had engineered no major breakthroughs and had seen many of its policies fail. An outcry of protest met Park's announcement that military rule would be extended for four additional years. In response to internal and external pressures, the extension was canceled and elections for civilian leaders took place in October 1963. Running as a civilian candidate, Park Chung Hee barely beat the recently deposed Yun Po-son. He narrowly won -again over Yun-in 1967. Over vocal opposition from minority party members, a 1969 constitutional amendment allowed the president to run for a third four-year term, and in 1971 he squeaked by the new opposition leader, Kim Dae Jung. Realizing that he was losing control over the currents of Korean society, Park pushed for extensive revisions of the constitution. The Yushin Constitution was ratified in 1972 and Park Chung Hee was once again reelected. Among other powers, the revised constitution gave the president unlimited six-year terms of office, the ability to rule by executive order, and the right to appoint one-third of the membership of the National Assembly. The Yushin Constitution went into effect over loud cries of dissent.
Martial law was declared and an executive decree made it illegal to criticize the president or his policies. To its credit, the Park regime brought about considerable changes in Korean society, including rapid economic advancement. Big business became the bedfellow of government. (Small businesses grew at a much slower pace.) Broadening its economic base, Korea moved from agriculture into heavy industry and chemicals. The new export-oriented economy relied upon a constant flow of imported raw materials to produce exportable products. At first, most of the fruits of production went abroad to gain needed revenue. By the late '70s, though, quality items began appearing on the Korean market, coinciding with a rise in the standard of living. The military grew, and with the perceived increasing threat from North Korea, a homeland reserve force was instituted in 1968. Diplomatic efforts led to improved international relations and more involvement in Asian affairs. By the mid-1960s, Korea had about 50,000 troops in Vietnam-and were some of the most feared of foreign troops-to fight on behalf of the southern half. In 1965, Korea renewed diplomatic relations with Japan, which had been cut since the end of WW II. Although protested by students, this was a healing of wounds and an opportunity to get much-needed financial aid to fuel the growing economy, the latter a key factor to the viability of the regime and its acceptance by the people. The Saemaul ("New Village") program was instituted in 1971 as a self-help program for farmers. Although seen by some as a tool for government indoctrination, it did bring many benefits to the rural poor. The program later spread to fishing communities and then to urban areas. Due to various reforms, Korea became virtually self-sufficient in food production by the mid-'70s. Throughout the '60s and '70s, a reawakening of cultural activities was helped along by broadening mass communication and education. With many of these advances, however, came the sacrifice of traditional values and a bit of the Korean "soul." With the emphasis on the country's overall improvement, the average citizen was often neglected. Human rights and civil liberties suffered, and dissent was squelched. Education and the media were heavily influenced and even censored by the government. Even with the dissatisfaction in some sectors of society, if President Park had stepped down after his second term he would have been revered today as a farsighted national hero who helped bring economic vitality to the country, and its politics from chaos to the' beginnings of democratic enlightenment. However, he did not step down. His last terms in office, and the effects of the Yushin Constitution, turned many Koreans against him, diminished his credibility drastically, and led to his untimely demise. In 1968 and 1975, assassination attempts against Park by North Korean agents failed; in the latter his wife was killed. These incidents helped push President Park into seclusion. He ran again in 1978 and won. Students again took to the streets, while other segments of society were feeling fed up as well. There was growing sentiment that some drastic change had to occur before the glimmer of democratic process was snuffed. The country no longer had an unsophisticated populace, and voices grumbling for change became numerous. Change came unexpectedly. On 26 October 1979, President Park was shot and killed by his trusted associate Kim Chae-kyu, head of the Korean CIA.
Kim Jaegyu, former Director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency who assassinated Park Chun Hee . He did this, he said to restore democracy . He was hanged in 1980.
President Choi Kyu-hah 1976-79 After the assassination of Park Chung-hee in 1979, Choi, the prime minister of South Korea at the time, assumed power. Because of the unrest resulting from Park's authoritarian rule, Choi promised democratic elections (the elections led by Park were widely seen as flawed), as well as a new constitution to replace the highly authoritarian Yusin Constitution.
In December 1979, Major General Chun Doo-hwan and close allies within the military staged a military coup against Choi's government. They quickly removed the army chief of staff and by early 1980 virtually controlled the government. In April 1980, due to increasing pressure from Chun and other politicians, Choi appointed Chun as head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. In May, Chun declared martial law and did away with all trappings of civilian government, becoming the de facto ruler of the country. By then, student protests were escalating in Seoul and Gwangju. The protests in Gwangju continued, resulting in the Gwangju Massacre, where around 987 civilians were killed within five days by Chun's military. Choi resigned soon afterward. Chun became president on September 1, 1980. After his resignation, Choi lived quietly out of the public eye. He died on October 22, 2006.
President Chun Doo-hwan 1980-88 As president, Chun promoted strong centralized government, and the rapid economic growth of the Park era continued.During Chun's visit to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) in 1983, a bomb exploded at a mausoleum he was about to visit, killing 21 people, including South Korean Cabinet members. Chun himself narrowly escaped death as he arrived at the scene two minutes late. While no firm evidence of North Korean involvement has been established, they are widely suspected to have been the responsible party.On November 23, 1988, the embattled Chun chose to go into the Baekdamsa Buddhist temple as a symbolic gesture of repentance for the excesses of his regime. He spent two years in Baekdamsa. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996 for authorizing the Gwangju massacre, but later pardoned by President Kim Young-sam on the advice of then President-elect Kim Dae-jung, whom Chun himself had sentenced to death some 20 years earlier.
President Roh Tae-woo 1988-93 Roh's rule was notable for hosting the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and for his foreign policy of nordpolitik, which represented a major break from previous administrations. True to his word, he remained committed to democratic reforms. In 1993, Roh's successor, Kim Young-sam, led an anti-corruption campaign that saw Roh and Chun Doo-hwan on trial for bribery.
President Kim Young-sam 1993-98 the first civilian President of South Korea since a series of dictatorships beginning with Park Chung-hee. Kim Young-sam was inaugurated on 25 February 1993 and served a single 5-year term. He presided over a massive anti-corruption campaign, the arrest of his two predecessors, and an internationalization policy called Segyehwa.Kia Motors collapsed soon thereafter, setting off a chain of events which embroiled South Korea in the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis during the last year of his presidency.
The Sampoong Department Store collapse in 1995 killed 502 and exposed governmental corruption
President Kim Dae-jung 1998 - 2003
Kim Dae-jung was 2000 the Nobel Peace Prize recipient.Kim Dae-jung took office in the midst of the economic crisis that hit South Korea in the final year of Kim Young-sam's term. He vigorously pushed economic reform and restructuring recommended by the International Monetary Fund. State subsidies to large corporations were dramatically cut or dropped. His policy of engagement with North Korea has been termed the Sunshine Policy
President Roh Moo-hyun 2003- 2008 Roh's election was notable for the arrival to power of a new generation in Korean politics, the so-called 386 Generation,. people in their thirties when the word was coined, who had attended university in the 1980s, and who were born in the 1960s. One year and two months after leaving office, Roh became the center of an ongoing bribery scandal.Roh committed suicide on 23 May 2009 by jumping from a mountain cliff, after leaving a suicide note President Lee Myung-bak 2008- present A Japanese-born Korean Politician and is the President of South Korea. Prior to his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the mayor of Seoul.An important part of his platform was the Grand Korean Waterway (한반도 대운하) project from Busan to Seoul, which he believes will lead to an economic revival.Lee also discussed the ratification of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement or KORUS FTA, which faces opposition from legislators in both countries.
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Movie about the Kwangju uprising of 1980, about the citizens who rose up against Chun Doo-hwan's military dictatorship
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