Park Chung Hee

His Excellency Park Chung Hee
박정희
Official portrait, 1970
3rd President of South Korea
In office 17 December 1963 – 26 October 1979[a]
Prime Minister	Himself[b] Kim Hyun-chul[b] Choi Tu-son Chung Il-kwon Paik Too-chin Kim Jong-pil Choi Kyu-hah
Preceded by	Yun Po-sun
Succeeded by	Choi Kyu-hah
Acting Prime Minister of South Korea[b]
In office 16 June 1962 – 10 July 1962
President	Himself (acting)
Preceded by	Song Yo-chan (acting)
Succeeded by	Kim Hyun-chul (acting)
Leader of South Korea
De facto 16 May 1961 – 17 December 1963
President	Yun Po-sun
Prime Minister	Song Yo-chan[b]
Preceded by	Chang Myon (as Prime Minister)
Succeeded by	Himself (as Chairman of the President)
Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction
In office 3 July 1961 – 17 December 1963
Deputy	Lee Ju-il
Preceded by	Chang Do-yong
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction
In office 16 May 1961 – 2 July 1961
Chairman	Chang Do-yong
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Lee Ju-il
Personal details
Born	(1917-11-14)14 November 1917 Gumi, Korea, Empire of Japan
Died	26 October 1979(1979-10-26) (aged 61) Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea
Manner of death	Assassination
Resting place	Seoul National Cemetery
Political party	Democratic Republican
Other political affiliations	Workers' Party of South Korea (1946–1948)[1]
Spouses	Kim Ho-nam [ko] ​ ​ (m. 1936; div. 1950)​ Yuk Young-soo ​ ​ (m. 1950; died 1974)​
Children	Park Jae-ok Park Geun-hye Park Geun Ryeong [ko] Park Ji-man [ko]
Parents	Pak Sŏngbin [ko] (father) Paek Namŭi [ko] (mother)
Relatives	Park Sang Hee [ko] (brother)
Education	Manchukuo Army Military Academy Imperial Japanese Army Academy Korea Military Academy
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Manchukuo Empire of Japan South Korea
Branch/service	Manchukuo Imperial Army (1944–1945) Republic of Korea Army (1945–1963)
Years of service	1944–1963
Rank	Lieutenant (Manchukuo) General (South Korea)
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War Korean DMZ Conflict
Korean name
Hangul	박정희
Hanja	朴正熙
RR	Bak Jeonghui
MR	Pak Chŏnghŭi
IPA	[pak̚.tɕ͈ʌŋ.çi] ⓘ
Art name
Hangul	중수
Hanja	中樹
RR	Jungsu
MR	Chungsu

Park Chung Hee (Korean: 박정희; [pak̚.tɕ͈ʌŋ.çi] ^ⓘ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 until his assassination in 1979. His regime oversaw a period of intense economic growth and transformation, making him one of the most consequential leaders in Korean history, although his legacy as a military dictator continues to cause controversy.

Before his presidency, Park was the second-highest-ranking officer in the South Korean army. His coup brought an end to the interim Second Republic of Korea. After serving for two years as chairman of the military junta, he was elected president in 1963, ushering in the Third Republic. A firm anti-communist, he continued to maintain close ties with the United States, which had maintained a large Army garrison in the country since the end of the Korean War. He supported American military involvement in Southeast Asia, and sent South Korean troops to fight in Vietnam soon after seizing power. Park began a series of economic reforms that eventually led to rapid and unprecedented economic growth and industrialization, a phenomenon that is now known as the Miracle on the Han River. This made South Korea one of the fastest growing economies of the 1960s and 1970s, albeit with costs to labor rights. This era also saw the formation of chaebols: family companies supported by the state similar to the Japanese zaibatsu. Examples of significant chaebols include Hyundai, LG, and Samsung.

Although popular during the 1960s, Park's popularity started to plateau by the 1970s, with closer than expected victories during the 1971 presidential election and the subsequent legislative elections. In 1972, Park declared martial law after carrying out a self-coup. He then introduced the highly authoritarian Yushin Constitution, ushering in the Fourth Republic. Now ruling as a dictator, he constantly repressed political opposition and dissent and completely controlled the military. He also had much control over the media and expressions of art. In 1979, Park was assassinated by his close friend Kim Jae-gyu, director of the KCIA, following the Busan–Masan Uprising.^[2] Whether the assassination was spontaneous or premeditated remains unclear to this day. Economic growth continued in spite of the 1979 coup d'état and considerable political turmoil in the wake of his assassination. He was soon afterwards succeeded by Choi Kyu-hah, who ruled for only a year before being deposed by career army officer Chun Doo-hwan. The country eventually democratized with the June Democratic Struggle in 1987.

Park remains a controversial figure in modern South Korean political discourse and among the South Korean populace in general, making a detached evaluation of his tenure difficult. While some credit him for sustaining economic growth, which reshaped and modernized South Korea, others criticize his authoritarian way of ruling the country (especially after 1971) and for prioritizing economic growth and social order at the expense of civil liberties and human rights. A Gallup Korea poll in October 2021 showed Park, Kim Dae-jung (an old opponent of Park whom he tried to have executed), and Roh Moo-hyun as the most highly rated presidents of South Korean history in terms of leaving a positive legacy, especially among South Korean conservatives and the elderly.^[3] Park's daughter Park Geun-hye later served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until she was impeached and convicted of various corruption charges in 2017.

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