Some people say that Park Chung-hee is a usurper; some say that Park Chung-hee is a dictator; some say that Park Chung-hee is a miracle worker. According to my own opinion, I tend to praise pragmatic people. I think Park Chung-hee's merits and demerits should be at least 70% to 30%, or even 80% to 20%. He made some mistakes, but during his 18 years in power in South Korea, he made indelible foundational and pioneering contributions to South Korea's economic development, improvement of people's livelihood, and independence.

After Yun Bo-sun stepped down on March 24, 1962, Park Chung-hee relied on his military and political power to become the acting president. He officially became the president in 1963 and ruled South Korea until his assassination on October 26, 1979. I am not only talking about his achievements here, but also about his unscrupulous means to achieve his goals. But as a Korean president, he is competent.

On November 14, 1917, Park Chung-hee was born in Moshagudong (today's Gumi City), Gumi-myeon, Sunsan County, North Gyeongsang Province, North Korea under Japanese rule, into a declining official family. I have been excellent in liberal arts since childhood, but poor in physical education. Due to his poor family background, he could only attend a lower-cost normal school. In 1937, after graduating, Park Chung-hee taught at Mungyeong Common School in North Gyeongsang Province. But this is not the life he wants. What he wants is to get ahead and become famous.

Joining the army became a choice for him. In 1939, Park Chung-hee went to the puppet Manchukuo established by Japan in Northeast my country. The following year, he entered the Xinjing Army Officer School and took the Japanese name "Takagi Masao". He graduated with first place and was awarded a gold watch by Puyi. He was recommended to study at the Japanese Army Military Academy in Tokyo for undergraduate study. In 1944, Park Chung-hee graduated from the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School with third place and was assigned to Qiqihar Kwantung Army Unit 635 as a trainee officer. In the process, he even wrote a bloody letter to the Japanese to show his loyalty, which became a stain on his life.

After working hard for the Japanese for more than a year, Park Chung-hee was promoted from second lieutenant to lieutenant on July 1, 1945. However, World War II ended on August 15, and Japan’s surrender ordered the Korean The Japanese-born lieutenant was in constant panic - he was afraid of being liquidated as a traitor. But he thought of a solution and switched to the Korean Liberation Army. After being sent back to the country, he became a cadet of the North Korean Guards Sergeant School on September 24, 1946. During this period, his brother was arrested for participating in launching a resistance movement against Syngman Rhee's "traitorous rule" and was subsequently shot. The seeds of hatred for Americans were planted in Park Chung-hee's heart, and the difference between him and Syngman Rhee and others emerged - he was never willing to be an American lackey.

In 1946, Park Chung-hee became a second lieutenant of the South Korean National Defense Guard after graduation, and was quickly promoted to captain due to his outstanding professional abilities. At the same time, he actively contacted the forces of Kim Il Sung in the north who were unwilling to rely on the Americans, and tried to secretly join the Workers' Party (today's communist ruling party of North Korea). However, his motivation for joining the party was only to avenge his brother, and he did not agree with the communist concept of "everyone is equal". After all, he was a "smart man" who could be regarded as a master no matter what era he was in. During this period, Syngman Rhee carried out a large-scale search for Workers' Party members (just like Chiang Kai-shek's April 12 Shanghai counter-revolutionary coup in 1927). Park Chung-hee was also discovered and almost executed, but he saved his life by betraying his comrades and begging the chief judge.

In 1949, Park Chung-hee entered the South Korean Intelligence Agency. Because he was good at writing report materials and successfully predicted China's dispatch of troops to North Korea, Park Chung-hee rose through the ranks during the Korean War. In December 1960, he was promoted to deputy commander of the Second Army. Park Chung-hee, who gradually reached the pinnacle of power, began to want to save South Korea from the Americans in his own way. On May 16, 1961, Park Chung-hee launched a military coup and successfully gained power.

After a series of struggles, Park Chung-hee became the Speaker of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, taking charge of the military and political power. He also followed the example of the United States in establishing the Central Intelligence Department, which was actually a secret service agency to maintain his own rule. In 1963, Park Chung-hee took off his military uniform and formally exercised power as president, kicking off his transformation of South Korea.

The first is to actively get rid of dependence on the Americans, develop relations with Germany, Japan, and Taiwan, and seek international status. The second step is to formulate an export-oriented strategy for economic development, including attracting investment, sending labor workers abroad to earn foreign exchange, establishing special economic zones, establishing electronic rejuvenation, investing in heavy and chemical industries, building high-speed railways, developing new rural areas, actively achieving food self-sufficiency, etc. Finally, there is the aspect of national governance, including combating corruption, abolishing Chinese characters, literary and art reform, education reform, etc. It can be said that Park Chung-hee single-handedly laid a solid foundation for South Korea's prosperity today, increasing South Korea's per capita GDP from US$82 in 1960 to US$1,592 in 1980, an increase of nearly 20 times, and is known as the "Miracle on the Han River" ". More importantly, this process relied very little on the strength of Americans, mainly relying on self-reliance and seeking help from other countries.

On October 26, 1979, Central Intelligence Minister Kim Jae-kyu claimed that he shot Park Chung-hee to death during a banquet "with the mood of a wild beast".

According to the "official" statement, this is because Park Chung-hee's "dictatorship and tyranny" aroused national dissatisfaction and continued to brutally suppress the "student movement." This is an all too familiar American routine. What I am more willing to believe is that with Park Chung-hee's efforts, South Korea's economy has developed rapidly. In order to completely get rid of dependence on the United States (mainly for national defense), Park Chung-hee is determined to secretly develop atomic bombs. After mastering nuclear weapons, South Korea will be able to protect itself. The protection of the American garrison is no longer needed. This is unacceptable to Americans and will do great damage to American interests in East Asia. Therefore, Park Chung-hee must die.

Today, when Korean people look back, especially after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, they realize that Park Chung-hee was a man of action whose merits outweighed his faults. More and more Koreans miss him. During the Park Chung-hee era, he spoke highly of Park Chung-hee, which directly contributed to the election of Park Chung-hee's daughter, Park Geun-hye, as the president of South Korea.

However, the opportunity for Koreans to control the fate of their country has completely passed away with the death of Park Chung-hee. South Korea, which has no ability to defend itself, is nothing more than a colony of the United States no matter how developed its economy is.