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| “ | We have been born into this land, charged with the historic mission of regenerating the nation. | „ |
| ~ Park Chung-hee, The Charter of National Education of Korea, 1968 |
Park Chung-hee (Hangul: 박정희; Hanja: 朴正熙; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and general who served as the President of South Korea from 1963 until his assassination in 1979, assuming that office after first ruling the country as head of a military dictatorship installed by the May 16 coup in 1961. Before his presidency, he was the chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction from 1961 to 1963 after a career as a military leader in the South Korean army. During World War II, he served in the Manchukuo Imperial Army, which was a division of the armed forces of Imperial Japan.
Park's coup brought an end to the interim government of the Second Republic and his election and inauguration in 1963 ushered in the Third Republic. Seeking to bring South Korea into the developed world, Park began a series of economic policies that brought rapid economic growth and industrialization to the nation that eventually became known as the Miracle on the Han River. South Korea became one of the fastest growing nations during the 60s and 70s as a result.
He aided the United States during the Vietnam War, with South Korean troops fighting alongside American troops. n return for troop commitments, South Korea received tens of billions of dollars in grants, loans, subsidies, technology transfers, and preferential markets, all provided by the Johnson and Nixon administrations.
Although popular during the 60s by the 70s as growth began to slow Park's popularity started to wane resulting in a close victory during the 1971 South Korean presidential election. Following this in 1972, Park declared martial law and amended the constitution into a highly authoritarian document called the Yushin Constitution. Formally, the pretense was that the Yushin Constitution was the seventh Constitutional amendment. In actuality, its effect was tantamount to an abolishment of the former Constitution—effectively creating a new one in an effort to legitimize the new Fourth Republic. During this time political opposition and dissent was constantly repressed and Park had complete control of the Media and Military.
Park survived several previous attempts to kill him, including two operations associated with North Korea that were directly ordered by Kim Il-sung. Following the student uprising later known as the Bu-Ma Democratic Protests, Park was assassinated on 26 October 1979 by his close friend Kim Jae-gyu, the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, at a safe house in Seoul. Cha Ji-chul, chief of the Presidential Security Service, was also fatally shot by Kim. Kim and his many accomplices were captured, tortured, tried, convicted and executed as Choi Kyu-hah became Acting President pursuant to the Yushin Constitution's Article 48. Major General Chun Doo-hwan quickly amassed sweeping powers after his Defense Security Command was charged with investigating the assassination, first taking control of the military and the KCIA before installing another military junta and finally assuming the presidency in 1980. Whether the assassination was spontaneous or premeditated is something that remains unclear today—the motivations of Kim Jae-gyu are still debated.
Economic growth continued after Park's death and the country eventually democratized. Later presidents included his daughter Park Geun-hye as well as people arrested under Park's regime. Park is a controversial figure in modern South Korean political discourse and among the South Korean populace in general for his dictatorship and undemocratic ways. While some credit him for sustaining the Miracle on the Han River, which reshaped and modernized South Korea, others criticize his authoritarian way of ruling the country (especially after 1971) and for prioritizing economic growth and contrived social order at the expense of civil liberties.