The Park Chung Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea

Harvard University Professor Ezra Vogel visits The Korea Society to discuss the monumental new political history he co-edited, The Park Chung Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea. South Korea was mired in poverty in 1959, yet by 1979 was gaining significant economic influence both regionally and globally. Park is credited with modernizing South Korea, but at a huge political and social cost. The state was predatory yet technocratic, reform-minded, yet quick to crack down on dissidents in the name of political order. The chaebol received massive government support to pioneer new growth industries, even as a nationwide campaign of economic shock therapy-interest hikes, devaluation, and wage cuts-met strong public resistance and caused considerable hardship. UC San Diego's Stephan Haggard describes the work as "remarkable...[it] will establish itself as the most significant work on the Park period."
For more information, please visit the link below:
www.koreasociety.org/policy/th...
Produced, Directed, and Edited by Peter Stuehmke.

[@euminkong]

My dad lived in South Korea 1948 until 1980. He said it was great times but hard core society. Fist fights are not considered real crimes. He then lived in Baltimore, Maryland starting from 1980 and now is in Towson talking that without Park Chungheee, Korea couldn't modernize as well.

[@TheMoonandMar]

9. Korean people's desire for higher education played a big part of their success and curiosity of the world. They learn anything if there is a value to learn.

[@syedadeelhussain2691]

We need a Park Chung Hee in Pakistan. Simple! This man changed the economic landscape of S. KOREA for once and for all. A true apostle and a great thinker.

[@edenthegreatest5531]

IT IS BECAUSE OF FERDINAND MARCOS NOT HIM.

[@jannateb.o3698]

No. It is not because park chung hee. He just build the infrastructure korea needed to prosper. But his administration is very autotarian and brutal. Also quite corrupt but at least it is better than sygnam rhee one. Notice the economy get better after park chung hee was overthrown. Humans beed freedom and fairness to grow, innovate and prosper. That is why SK can prosper after his era, NOT DURING HIS ERA

[@user-ow9fs8gt5w]

@@jannateb.o3698 아니다 그 후로 번영한것은 박정희때 만들어진 기반이 그후에 효과를 본것이다. 박정희가 살아있다면 당연 박정희때 효과를 봤다. 당신의 의견은 박정희 반대자들의 의견이다

[@maku8075]

@@jannateb.o3698 it was necessary for new poor countries to be authotarian it also has a threat from NKorea and many spies waiting to assassinate and cause political trouble. But because of Park Chung Korea develop prosper and is now a very good democratic country.

[@ahmednadim5859]

The reason you're poor is because you keep looking for a benevolent dictator to save your country.

[@TheMoonandMar]

6. Korea was 2nd poorest country after Korean war. It was Park's determination, vision to get Korea out of the poverty and into economic power house. In that era, Korea was in a big mass socially & economically and certain amount of dictatorship was needed. He was the right president at the right time & policy.

[@KoreaFirst]

Thank you for this very informative video!

[@1schullee]

The great reforestation project in Korea is a modern miracle. President Park personally let people to bring health back to the nation's mountains, fields. Today, Korea is green again. This was the first time humanity successfully completed reforestation in vast, hard projects. Korean people sacrificed, planting saplings, carrying water and topsoils in buckets. Women donated gold jewelries to finance the project. A man put his entire wealth to plant and finance the reforestation project. Without green forests, Korea would have never succeeded in modernizing technology and bring wealth to Korea. It is about time to appreciate President Park's effort for reforestation of Korea. Luckily, his daughter continues to realize his dream of building modern Korea. Unfortunately, history shows, leaders, patriots of the nation are often forgotten by people. President Park, after 18 years of hard struggle to modernize Korea, he was exhausted. He knew, without economic success, democracy would not be possible. The miracle of the Han River, was only possible because of President Park. He was truly the father of Modern Korea. Hope our descendants would always remember President Park's great work for nation building.

[@pug-aloentertainment3801]

@Sang Lee I must say that despite I like NK more, I greatly respect General Park. He truly was a leader. Shame on those who assassinated him

[@fpark101]

Korea and people were not ready for democracy at that time. People were uneducated and easily manipulated by corrupt politicians, not to mention continuous in-house fights and divisions. Korea needed a strong visionary leader who cared deeply for the interest of Korean people. Park Chung Hee was the reason Korea escaped crippling poverty.

[@neuralvibes]

Regarding Ezra Vogel's comment that Syngman Rhee did not leave any institutions for Park Chung Hee to build on; I would beg to differ somewhat... The land reform, done under Syngman Rhee, was a prerequisite for South Korea's subsequent economic development (Joe Studwell's book "How Asia Works" explains the economic importance of successful land reform in Asia) and so too was the South Korea-US military treaty negotiated by Syngman Rhee after the Korean War, which enabled South Korea to focus for the first time on its civilian economy rather than having to spend most of its budget on propping up the military in fear of an invasion from the North. The investment in education and the granting of scholarships for students studying abroad was also something that was started under Syngman Rhee and education has subsequently proven to be a vital part of South Korea's development. I think one also has to keep in mind that the political situation and the time-frame in which Syngman Rhee operated was significantly different from the political situation and time-frame in which Park Chung Hee operated. Syngman Rhee spent most of his time in office simply trying to establish South Korea as a viable state, while Park Chung Hee took over a South Korea that wasn't facing a direct existential threat anymore. One thing that's often mentioned, though not in this debate, is how Park Chung Hee made use of five year economic plans. While Syngman Rhee did shelve the idea of five year plans that his economic advisors proposed, which Park Chung Hee later made use of, this was an idea that could have been taken up someone other than Park Chung Hee as well. Had Syngman Rhee stayed in power for a little longer, and had a little more time to consider this proposal, he too may have changed his position. Also, crucial to South Korea's economic development were several factors that simply were not in place prior to the 1960's or 1970's, such as Japan's economic rise as a vitalizing factor to the whole region of East Asia (in fact, the Korean War kick-started Japanese post-WW2 industry and made Japan's rise possible in first place), the availability of cheap international credits with little or no strings attached, USA turning a blind eye to economic protectionism in Japan and South Korea (due to the Cold War considerations), etc.

[@nn-qw7ws]

There are many assessment to park and some of them is negative especially about democracy, but the fact that never can be denied is he cleared a severe famine and developed the korean economy so that she can be placed in oecd.

[@YoY664]

honestly. fck democracy.

[@TheMoonandMar]

Few points: 1. Japan's economic boom started due to Korean war. We (America) brought so much resources to Japan to fight Korean war, and they seized the opportunity for economic boom. (It's done by Korean blood again soon after WWII)

[@TheMoonandMar]

5. President Park wouldn't have worked with Japanese for economic development if we (America) had a better relationship and if they could've gotten support of America. For President Park, getting Korea out of poverty after Korean war was #1 priority. He did whatever it took to fulfill the miracle of the Han River. Also that action made Korean people accusing him as pro-Japan.

[@TheMoonandMar]

2. Japan's claim how they developed Korea during colonial period is absolutely ridiculous. 45 years pulled Korea far back than what they actually can achieve. Korean people have a very strong "Can Do" spirit.

[@kelvinnguyen6048]

Amazing piece

[@user-wb8wz6kk2k]

Hello, I am a Korean who is studying about President Park Chung-hee. It's good to see this video. I don't know English very well. So if there are Korean subtitles, I would like to introduce this video to many Koreans. Please add Korean subtitles.

[@facethereality9329]

He is top top only one legend during 5000 years history in korea.

[@KingDrudge]

I bought this book last year and I am only halfway through it. I have even had to go back and reread some chapters. Its a very well written book and has enhanced my understanding of the Miracle on the Han.

[@johnpress]

Wow! Vogel's throat clearings made me jump higher than any horror film.

[@TheMoonandMar]

3. Japan's claim on Dokdo which is Korean island shows you that old habit can't go away. Japan has been always looking over Korean or neighboring nations' soil as well as ours (Pearl Harbor- At least tried once). And I think we shouldn't let Japan build their military power again. History can repeat itself with the nature of Japanese.

[@bharathdev6285]

Great leader always rule with an iron fist so that the ppl can live with dignity and prosperity

[@euminkong]

My mom has photos with short hair as a student. This man made my mom not have freedoms.

[@princechaudhary2095]

@@euminkong brother it is true that president park became dictator in yunshin era but it is also true that he made korea a country from per capita of 80 to 90 dollars to around 2000 dollars in 1979 . When his friend and kcia director kim jae gyu assassinated him.

[@beasthundred4709]

@@euminkong No one is perfect even Park. Autocracy was only system that could control lawless savage era of fists ruled by like Kim Doo Han and other gangsters, in those days south was even poorer than the North. Park literally built foundation of today's Korea and has realized the greated economic growth. History can be deceived, but the flow of money can't. This man made citizens dozen times richer, and therefore, a great leader no matter how you look at it. Don't listen to North Korean agent Moon Jae In's crap about Park Jung Hee's chaebol privilege to become Samsung, Hyundai, LG of today, he did not develop smartphones for god sake. Also, ehere are the secret gold bars in his swiss account in the movies? Couldn't find for past 40 years lol? They just don't exist. Park was the greatest president of South Korea and filthy dog Moon is the worst political leader ever. Poor Park's daughter, I never liked her, but I knew from the beginning all the scandals were scam, just like what court says nowadays.

[@princechaudhary2095]

@@beasthundred4709 bro are you from south Korea?

[@princechaudhary2095]

@Warrior Boy sir which one you like more dictatorship or malnutrition and poverty. And also he is a Democratic president before yushin . By the way , are you from korea? And how do you know i am from india ?

[@TheKrazyk2010]

We need a Park Chung Hee in South Korea and America.....

[@lemokemo5752]

A military state-capitalist dictatorship? You want the US to basically be a North American China?

[@euminkong]

영웅 시대. The historical lecture version.

[@DonCarlosHormozi]

Standard model of the benevolent strongman. He takes a devastated country or a country that is undeveloped. Build industries, build, infrastructure, and build schools. Then, the recipients of those benefits, especially in the schools, in the next generation, or perhaps even less, who have benefited from these programs begin to question the legitimacy of the person who instituted these programs. And then they begin to resist him.

[@TheMoonandMar]

8. His daughter President Park Guen Hye is determined to have 2nd miracle of the Han River. She might be the best source to write about her father's intention in that era. She grew up in the family where they always talked about how Korea could get out of the poverty & become economic power house globally. I bet on her again. A great lady leader in this century.

[@sixshot4]

This didn’t age well

[@lemokemo5752]

Super interesting parallels between Park and Deng

[@TheMoonandMar]

10. If NK & SK united, Korea will be so powerful. NK's cheap labor, obedient nature of people (perhaps by no choice for now) & rich natural resources, SK's economic power, hardworking ethics, fierce competition, benevolent spirit to help other nations, etc. Surely a country to watch with a pleasure.

[@VisibleMRJ]

Nah I think they will be powerful because of nukes and K-pop.

[@thedrinkinggamemaker9749]

@@VisibleMRJ nah 🤣

[@mohameddiaby835]

Nah, South Koreans will be better off without "reunification".

[@TheBombayMasterTony]

Interesting.

[@TheMoonandMar]

7. There were talks that some government officials from US were communicating with opposition of president Park in Korea and direct & indirectly to assassinate President Park. Korean people in general don't like to be told what to do, they resent that very hard in fact. I think that applies to both NK & SK. But during Carter administration, we sort of acted as a big guy and rubbed them wrong, and always threatening Korea how we are going to pull our military out of there games. I think that also developed anti-America sentiment at that time.

[@fas852]

These 2 men are great communicators to the window of Korean history and more importantly its economic and political history. So glad to finally understand Korea more clearly.

[@hawaiiallan]

God Bless You President Park Jung Hee 🇰🇷thank you for making Korea the economic power it is today and that all the young generation doesn't realize that it enjoys today wifi,iPads ,📺 💰,and etc. if they know this they wouldn't be stupidly protesting today! God Bless You Park Jung Hee🇰🇷👍🙏

[@bubbleman1081]

Also, if China didn't allow foreign companies to enter the market, the government would not have the capability to build up an economy at such a fast pace. Unlike the other smaller Asian nations, which basically started from zero. China, in my opinion, started from negative. The free trade zones that were set up in Fujian and Guangdong were to attract investment from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

[@pomrukhun]

1987: When the day comes. i just watch it. Such a heartbreaking movie. The end credit is worse i've ever felt. And here i am, searching through their history.

[@pingukutepro]

stfu

[@citysounds8487]

park you are a yakuza.samurai.trial.but you save South Korea people from poor.duamp.lazy.you teach south Korea tatic find money.become richman.you smart man

[@ithj201]

한반도 역사상 최고의 전성기이자 처음으로 강대국을 만들어준 대통령

[@user-zv7kx4gr6y]

@@user-rw6yo8qo1j gdp순위로 보면 맞긴한가?

[@pingukutepro]

I need Engish sub please

[@harrykim7830]

Because of leftist in Korea, Park jung hee would rollover. It's sad. He is great leader.

[@TheKrazyk2010]

Kim dae jung=bill clinton Moon jae in=joe biden

[@pingukutepro]

The Triangle of hate: Japan-Korea-China

[@mikahn3797]

Mr Vogel has a kind of pregedis about great president park. U should explain more about our geographic characteristics which is surrounded all the big countries n what had happened b4 him invasion from japan n more. Ok they both say things really twisted way just cuz u know some korean words doesnt mean u know everything for me u guys just trying hard to win over the other so funny for me. Dont keep mention about president park as park junghee like ur equal as him or ur friends I feel so annoyed as a korean.

[@krishnanunnimadathil8142]

This conversation does not seem to be a very great advertisement for human freedom and democracy and rather an apology for dictatorship. The gist seems to be: dictatorship is fine so long as money is made. What would be valuable is the opinion of the victims of dictatorship; but they are invariably dead. And no, the Philippines is not an exemplar of democracy - remember Ferdinand Marcos?!

[@shreyvaghela3963]

Yeah because democracy worked so good in india. Right?? Millions of lives improve led under him that's enough freedom from poverty. They also had better woman empowerment than many poor democracies.

[@krishnanunnimadathil8142]

@@shreyvaghela3963 To counter your cynicism, yes - democracy has worked for the Indian people, much more than it is given credit for. The continuing poverty of the Indian people is a result of socialism as opposed to democracy and most people fail to discern. The benefit of democracy for the Indian people has been that economic improvement has been measured and has involved taking most if not all people into the decision-making process. The Indian people take their freedoms for granted - this is not something that’s the case even with South Korea; where democracy is guaranteed in part by the US military presence on their soil. In the same way that one cannot congratulate you for not getting a disease which you may otherwise have; one cannot directly congratulate Indians for avoiding the terrible mistakes brought about by not being a democracy. What really could be the difference between the dictatorship of Mao in China and the dictatorship of Park Chung Hee in Korea from the point of view of the ordinary person?

[@shreyvaghela3963]

@@krishnanunnimadathil8142 lol democracy is not guaranteed by American military presence. Otherwise the director would not have come to power. What a joke. It was a natural transition by koreans themselves nothing more.

[@krishnanunnimadathil8142]

@@shreyvaghela3963 The dictator came to power in part by promising to be in the anti-Soviet camp during the Cold War. May I suggest you read up on the history of the place. The US has propped up “democratic dictatorships” in multiple places, including but not limited to South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt so on and so forth. Were dictatorship the prime reason for the economic rise of South Korea, then why has this not been repeated elsewhere in places such as Iran or Iraq? As for “democratic” South Korea, one really wonders why the voices calling for the expulsion of US forces and the reunification of Korea are silenced there. South Koreans know sincerely that their democratic existence is a charmed one; they’d be lying if they told you otherwise. Economic affluence is not the prime reason for democratic freedoms, and the Chinese next door have proved it. To equate India’s democracy with its poor economic record is also wildly missing the point. The Koreans butchered 3 million of their own in a war that has still not been called off. Please, let not your addiction to schoolboy statistics come in the way of the human toll of the lack of individual freedom, if you are being serious.

[@shreyvaghela3963]

@@krishnanunnimadathil8142 lol what a moronic point if view. First off they didn't butcher 3 million people no evidence. Also the voices don't matter because American government funding is needed to protect korea against north. Also India's poor economic development is putting it mildly. India does not even have proper sanitation. Also evonomic freedeom and development by definition leads to increase in freedom in another areas like woman empowerment, Innovation etc. Democracy is overeated. We indians should develop our own vision of how to rule overself. Not adopting western delusion values

[@zhiyuanming115]

Have you ever heard the word "U.S. military comfort women" ? Park Chung-hee , former president (father of President Park Geun-hye) was "the U.S. military comfort women" administrator! South Korea was also forced entrainment during the Korean War . Koreans ignore Korean military comfort women. Park Chung-hee joined the Japanese Imperial Army during this period. At one time he adopted the Japanese name of Takagi Masao. He entered the Changchun Military Academy of the Manchukuo Imperial Army(Japan's). He was top in his class and went on to study at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in Japan. Park was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Kwantung Army, an elite Japanese unit. In fact, although not large newspaper reported in Korea, this honorable man had managed the "U.S. military comfort women". It has not been reported almost in South Korea. Why?

[@user-sk3fj9rs3g]

좌빨버러지 또 지랄하고자빠졌다

[@euminkong]

@@user-sk3fj9rs3g 중국 사람이 박정희 미워서 지랄하지. ㅋㅋㅋ 조선 시대 매춘부이든 박정희 시대 매춘부이든

[@facethereality9329]

He is god. Korean trump

[@euminkong]

@@marka.1770 who got shot and died.

[@euminkong]

He is Korean FDR. He rule 16 years.