Park Chung-hee

Who was Park Chung-hee?

Park Chung-hee was a South Korean president and military general who led South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979. Park seized power through a military coup d'état that overthrew the Korean Second Republic in 1961 and ruled as a military strongman at the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction until his election and inauguration as the President of the Korean Third Republic in 1963. In 1972, Park declared martial law and recast the constitution into a highly authoritarian document, ushering in the Korean Fourth Republic. After surviving several assassination attempts, including two operations associated with North Korea, Park was eventually assassinated on 26 October 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, the chief of his own security services. He had led South Korea for 18 years.

Born into a poor Yangban family at a time when Korea was under Japanese rule, Park originally served with the Japanese collaborationist Manchukuo Imperial Army. He was recognized as a talented officer and selected for service with the Imperial Japanese Army's elite Kwantung Army group during World War II. After the war, Park entered the service of the Republic of Korea Army.