Park Chung-hee

Where they went

12 related events

1. 1
   1961May 16 Military Coupleader

   Soldiers led by Park Chung-hee seized power. After rule by the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, Park was elected president in 1963.

2. 2
   1962 – 1981Five-Year Economic Development Plansleader

   State-led development plans that built up light industry and exports in the 1960s and heavy and chemical industries in the 1970s.

3. 3
   1964 – 1973Deployment to Vietnamrelated figure

   At US request South Korean troops were sent to the Vietnam War; under the Brown Memorandum the US promised to modernize the army and provide economic aid.

4. 4
   1964June 3 Protestsrelated figure

   As student and citizen protests against the Park government’s talks with Japan grew, the government declared martial law in Seoul on 3 June 1964.

5. 5
   1965Treaty on Basic Relations between Korea and Japanrelated figure

   Amid fierce protests (the June 3 protests), South Korea and Japan established diplomatic relations; the treaty contained no apology or reparations for colonial rule.

6. 6
   1969Third-Term Amendmentleader

   An amendment allowing a president three terms was pushed through by ruling-party members alone in an annex of the National Assembly.

7. 7
   1970Saemaul Movementleader

   A government-led movement for diligence, self-help and cooperation to improve rural living conditions and incomes, later extended to cities and factories.

8. 8
   1972July 4 South–North Joint Statementrelated figure

   For the first time since division, the two Koreas agreed on three principles of unification — independence, peace and national unity — announced simultaneously in Seoul and Pyongyang.

9. 9
   1972October Yushinleader

   President Park declared martial law, dissolved the National Assembly and introduced the Yushin constitution, concentrating power in the presidency.

10. 10
    1973 – 1979Emergency Decrees and the March First Democratic Declarationrelated figure

    When a campaign to amend the Yushin constitution arose, the government suppressed it with emergency decrees; in 1976 dissidents issued the March First Democratic Declaration at Myeongdong Cathedral.

11. 11
    1979YH Trading Incidentrelated figure

    Women workers of YH Trading, protesting the closure of their company, staged a sit-in at the New Democratic Party headquarters and were forcibly removed by police.

12. 12
    1979October 26 Incidentrelated figure

    KCIA director Kim Jae-gyu shot and killed President Park Chung-hee, bringing down the Yushin system.

Related works

People who appear alongside

• Yun Po-sun1897 – 1990

  4th President (1960–1962), elected by the National Assembly under the parliamentary system after the April Revolution; resigned after the May 16 coup

• Kim Dae-jung1924 – 2009

  15th President (1998–2003), the first transfer of power to the opposition by election. Steered recovery from the currency crisis and held the first inter-Korean summit; Nobel Peace Prize 2000

• Chang Myon1899 – 1966

  Elected vice president in 1956; prime minister under the parliamentary system after the April Revolution (1960–1961)

• Kim Il Sung1912 – 1994

  Leader of North Korea (1948–1994): chairman of the Provisional People’s Committee, then premier and president. Purged rivals after the Korean War and built one-man rule

• Jang Jun-ha1918 – 1975

  Former Korean Liberation Army soldier who published the magazine Sasanggye and led the 1973 campaign for a million signatures petitioning for constitutional revision

• Ham Seok-heon1901 – 1989

  Thinker and democracy activist who wrote Korean History from the Standpoint of Meaning, published the magazine The Voice of the Ssial and joined the 1976 March First Democratic Declaration

• Mun Ik-hwan1918 – 1994

  Pastor and democracy activist who joined the 1976 March First Democratic Declaration and visited North Korea in 1989 in the cause of reunification

• Kim Young-sam1927 – 2015

  14th President (1993–1998). Introduced the real-name financial system and full local autonomy; the 1997 currency crisis came at the end of his term

Themes this person appears in

• Changing Unification Policies1948 – 2018

  From “march north” to the Panmunjom Declaration — inter-Korean relations from confrontation to dialogue, through joint statements and agreements to summits (up to 2018)

• Printing and Documentary HeritageAD 751 – 2011

  From the Dharani Sutra to the May 18 archives — woodblock and metal-type printing, and the records inscribed on the Memory of the World