South Korea and non-stop coups - Cold War DOCUMENTARY 

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A coup against himself, not because he lost, but because he didn't win as much as he thought he should. A guy who literally would not take YES for an answer.

When I was station in Korea in 2017 I would talk to Vietnam war vets. My favorite cab drivers were vets and some of the volunteers at the soup kitchen I volunteered at. Over time they opened up more and talked about the reasons why some of the Vietnamese feared them and would avoid confrontation with the Blue Dragons. Some spoke on the reasons why they fought; it paid way more then normal military service, they truly hated commies, a few understood the economic aspect of it and knew supporting the US would help grow their economy and make getting a better job easier (the guys who said that worked for the chaebols). Most of them felt their contribution during that period helped make Korea the economic powerhouse it is today, but sadly they feel forgotten. Some of the current Korean Soldiers I worked with barely knew anything about this period of Korean history.

Even now, talking about Park Chung-hee is a very sensitive political topic in Korea. But what his supporters and haters alike agree on is that Park Chung-hee is one of the most important figures in Korean modern history. Personally, I think he was a necessary evil, and it is clear that without him, Korea would still be a poor agricultural society.

It would be great to see videos about West Germany for example the Ohnesorg crisis, the Munich Olympics, the Guillaume crisis, Willy Brandts "Ostpolitik“, the Landshut crisis or the RAF.

For movies, I very much recommend "The President's Last Bang"/그때 그사람들. It's a black comedy that dramatizes the plot assassination, and immediate events after Park Chung-hee's death. For something fictional and comedic, there's "The President's Barber"/효자동 이발사, starring Song Kang-ho (Mr. Kim in Parasite) as a Forrest Gump-like barber who's family benefit and later suffer from Park's regime.

Park Chung-Hee was no saint but without him, 2023 South Korea would be the Philippines at best, Burma at worse. He's underrated, doesn't get the attention of other 20th Century Revolutionaries like Gamal Abdel Nasser or Fidel Castro- who are overrated and left a mess of their countries. Rwanda President Paul Kagame inspired by Park Chung Hee.

Welp Thailand had coups to this day😂

Park Chung Hee was killed by his own close friend which is crazy to know.

My grandfather was a participant in the coup. He was a one star general in the ROK and served with Park in Manchuria. He wrote a letter to my grandmother in case of his death. I’d owe my existence and life in the USA to him participating in the coup.

It's impressive South Korea ended up where they did considering how rocky the decades after WW2 were for them.

The RoK’s troops performed extremely well in the Vietnam conflict. The areas under their control had the lowest level of PLF activity. That aside, there are multiple reports of their poor relations with the ARVN, fuelled by both ethnic tensions and frustration with the ARVN’s comparative passivity in dealing with the Communists.

My Korean friends tell me Park Chung-hee is still a very divisive figure in Korea.

For all his faults, Park saved Republic of Korea. Something a lot of RoK citizens can remember but not very well known outside. Even Kim Il Sung had to deal with him in secret starting in the late 60s.

6:38 In the long run, John F. Kennedy did a good job for SKorea. but He didnt know anything about how to build a democratic state from scratch. Just making a constitution and voting doesn't make a democratic society. At the time, Korea was extremely poor, and public education had been disrupted by the Japanese Empire for decades. In this chaotic situation, Democracy is vulnerable to mob justice and corruption. At that time, the United States explained democracy too ideologically to third world countries, and many third world countries were confused. President Park Chung-hee very well understood the contradiction of the United States well. Although he was a dictator, he was building a system to make Korea a democratic country and completed the modern Korean constitution.

Park was indeed a brutal dictator but without him, South Korea wouldn't have become an economic powerhouse it is today.

History being different shades of gray is a very important statement when it comes to Park Chung Hee. Undoubtedly he is to be credited with a good part of South Korean economic success but at the same time his regime brutally suppressed any and all opposition and a lot of South Korea's current problems can be traced back to policies that were enacted under his reign. It's also not easy to assess exactly how much damage was caused because dissent was crushed back then and history text books were rewritten under the presidency of his daughter Park Guen Hye. Keep in mind that even American sources from that era are unlikely to have been unbiased as the Americans had a vested interest in a stable South Korea.

Marcos of the Philippines tried to take chapters from Park Chung-hee's book. But the big difference was that Marcos's cronies were too greedy, and corruption was rife at all levels.

In December 1972 I flew out to Pusan, South Korea to sign on the USNS Upsher. She was a troop ship that carried ROK Army Soldiers back and forth to Viet Nam. Those were some interesting (and dangerous) times.

Interestingly enough, I learned martial arts from Grand Master Sun-hwan Chung. He was very involved in training South Vietnamese and US forces in Vietnam. He is a great, kind man who helped me be a better person. 🇰🇷

As a second-generation Latino American immigrant, I would like to suggest that you and your crew make a video about the 1969 Soccer/Football War between El Salvador and Honduras, as well as the Salvadoran Civil War of the late 1970s, and the entirety of the 1980s. The Civil War is an event that my mother was born into and grew up during. Fortunately, the violence of the war did not occur in her area.

I once asked a South Korean what he thought of Park. (Park was still in power) He said, "I think he is very, capable". Thanks for another excellent documentary.

Thank you for the qood-quality subtitles by the way! It's really nice you include these for us non-native English-speakers, it helps very much with understanding narration, although that too is done very well here. You should start a class "how do I make a good-quality video" or something hehe. Regards, Thomas

While in the Navy in the early 1980s, I made a port call to Busan and took a bus to Seoul. Great port call. It's wasn't until a couple of decades+ later while teaching in Korea as a civilian that I realized actual democracy didn't come to the ROK until the late 1980s, It felt kinda creepy, really. But, what the hell, I've got the NATO Cold War medal, so I guess it's okay?

May 16 coup, it's like Park was well aware of what happened in Tokyo back in his younger days. Chaebol's Chinese characters are the same as the ones for the Japanese zaibatsu. Basically South Korean chaebols today are the closest thing to a modern day zaibatsu. Imagine had the Americans never dissolve the zaibatsus. Both Koreas are still in a ceasefire, the longest one ever in history and the war is still considered as ongoing.

That moment when Park couped himself pushs me down the stairs

back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, the North Korea looked much more like the good guy than the South, even economy was far ahead ironically how things have changed now

It was an informative video about the South Korea 🇰🇷 republic ... Thank you for sharing ...good luck and best wishes for (the Cold War) channel

If it was not because of patriotism and what you call "dictatorship" of general Park, South Korea was not where it is now. Park Chung-hee was one the greatest leaders in modern history. He transformed a failed nation into a modern, determined, and agile one. May he rest in peace

Cool! I was just talking about a post-Korean War episode on the Koreas during the last live stream.

AH Korea.. despite the pretensions of superiority of its inhabitants, it was little more than a banana republic until the end of the 1980s.

As a Korean woman from Seoul, thank you very much for going in depth.

The US government did not trust Park Chung Hee at first and considered staging the US-backed counter-coup against his military committee, because it thought he was a communist. Park Chung Hee was once a member of one of the communist parties in Korea, "The Workers' Party of South Korea". His role was to infiltrate communists in the Korean military and he was a part of the party's conspiracy to overthrow Syngman Rhee's regime. He was eventually caught in 1948 and was very close to being sentenced to death, but his sentence was reduced because he provided the police a list of party members who were yet caught. Because of this record, and his government-led economic scheme(which resembled much of socialist economic policy), the US feared that his intention was to turn South Korea into a socialist state. During the early years of his reign, Park had to prove himself to the people and the US that he was not a communist by harshly oppressing communists in South Korea.

한국어 자막도 있었으면 좋겠습니다. I hope there are Korean subtitles! I don't know English, so I don't know what it's about, but thank you for dealing with modern and contemporary Korean history

The economic development of East Asian countries such as Korea, China, Japan, and Taiwan is not a coincidence. They were a highly developed region that had flourished brilliant culture, ideology, and philosophy since the days of ancient states, and operated a centralized state through a thorough rule of law and bureaucracy based on secularism. It is true that Park Chung-hee accelerated the pace of Korea's economic development by several decades, but considering various historical and cultural circumstances, it was inevitable that Korea would leap forward into a developed country.

Remember, you could be worse or a communist during this time and still side with the U.S and tell them that you're against the Soviet Union, and the U.S. would maybe have supported you. For example, Thailand, Philippines, South Korea, Iraq, and South Africa, etc

How South Korea didn't collapsed like South Vietnam, despite of coups

PJH is GOAT

16:25 now I want to learn how & when South Korea established ties with Vietnam after the war

I don't think the tags "Apatheid" and "SouthAfrica" are the right hash tags for this video.

Cheobul didnt get support from park. Park asked businessmen for help

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. paid the Korean military Private 2nd class a salary of $200, but the soldier actually received only $100.( In 1965, when South Korea's per capita GDP was less than $120, the monthly salary of $100 was huge for South Koreans.) Park Chung-hee took a salary of $100 per soldier and made a secret fund of more than $100 million to the Swiss Bank at that time, which caused the Korea Gate incident in the United States in 1976. And after Park Chung-hee was assassinated, the Swiss bank's secret funds disappeared. A secret fund worth more than $10 billion now. Currently, many Koreans think that if it had been used for the economic growth of Park Chung-hee's secret funds, it would have become a country with a much higher economic power than the current Republic of Korea.

*One of the most controversial characters in modern Korean history!* Many conservative party supporters always visit to worship his hometown and grave with related politicians. In all previous presidential and general elections, 12 million of Gyeongsang Province voted Overwhelmingly for the Conservative Party due to inheriting the Legacy of Park Chung-hee. Among all politicians, his daughter 'Park-Geun-Hye' stood center of remuneration, and led the party to victory in all elections until 2016. Because old generations(Aged 60, 70, 80 years old) felt the nostalgia of the high growth period that existed in the 1970s and have strong faith in the direction of politics from based who Park Chung-hee's leadership 50 years ago. His regime progressed two systems of economic development & dictatorship during the 18 years, and his core forces 'Central Intelligence Agency & Korean Army' has a duty the surveillance and oppression civil society. Due to blocking any voice of citizens, the individual issue of Vietnam War Soldier Victims or soldier death became buried thoroughly, and compensation for comfort women and forced labor issues. His economic development was preceded by 'personal sacrifice', and it became a political target from the democratic party. Ironically, what ended his 18-year dictatorship was not the uprising of citizens but the economic crisis caused by the second oil shock.

I spent 12 years fighting the military rule when I was in my 20s. I got more and more radicalized and ended up becoming a hard-core Marx-Leninist, at least .with regard to theory. However, I have never despised Park or his successor Chun. It is a great luck that your foe is a strong and respectable man. Park was a great character. He used to be a communist and was almost executed. He literally invented the export-driven growth model. He betted on heavy and petrochemical industries from the early 70s. He implemented the VAT for transparency in 1977, which was a political suicide. He began the change from a government-driven economy to market- driven in 1979, which was another political suicide. A dictator who preferred transparency and fair market? Korea in 1979 is comparable to China in 1990 in terms of personal GDP. Rhee and Park were great leader. I was lucky to spend 12 years fighting Park and his successor lest my country turn into a corrupt military junta's playground. They more than deserve my youth.

fun fact, chaebol and zaibatsu share the same chinese characters

"The sides of "good" is not always good. And history is shades of grey and rarely black and white." Good summary of South Korean modern history.

President Park Chung-Hee was a one of the greatest leader of Korean history and not just that, he is the South Korea himself.

Japan: Tries to carve out its sphere of influence in Asia by force, gets nuked Japan: "Well, guess let's be business partners then"... doing a deep bow of respect while prepairing anime soft power subversion campaign in the background to get them all hooked

Thanks

So ... the occupation of South Korea by the Japanese Imperial Army ended only in 1979? And people still think the Korean War was about capitalism vs communism ...

"So he declared a coup against... himself." OK, we've reached Turkmenbashi levels of autocratic insanity hahaha.

Can't wait for the Korean DMZ/USS Pueblo episode!

Appreciate the presenter’s dedication in adopting Kim Jong Un’s haircut for this Korean documentary.

The Cold War 채널에서 한국을 이렇게 집중적으로 다루다니 놀랍네요. 박정희 정권은 독재정권이기는 했지만 기본적으로 애국심과 진정성을 갖춘 독재였기에 제3세계의 다른 독재정권들과는 달리 국가의 체질을 개선하고 오늘날의 발전을 이룩하는 기틀을 마련했다고 봅니다.

This was such an interesting episode. I want to see the follow up on this guy.

Thank you for making a video about my country.

The Korean leftists disparage him as a dictator. However, he was more honest than any other leader in the history of the Republic of Korea. He was a true patriot. Yun Bo-seon and Kim Dae-jung were communists who created regionalism in the Yeongnam and Honam regions for political gain, which is still a political and social problem. In addition, during the previous administration, Moon Jae-in handed over military secrets and confidential information about South Korean spies working in North Korea to Kim Jong-un. As a result, all the informants had to return, and half of them were executed. Now, South Korea is facing a major political crisis, and Trump's actions are pushing South Korea into a deeper crisis.

It's not coup it never was. It was revolution that changed all south koreans lives for far better. If you doubt my words then look at north korea. Countless poeple in north died of famine. and people in south worry about diet nowadays.

He did what he had to do for a nation that had barely any resources, a nation as cold, barren and war-stricken as it was to become as wealthy and culturally relevant as it is today. Democracy is slow and one wrong regime can turn back the clocks of progress several years even decades. Not glorifying it but nearly if not all of the 4 Asian tiger nations were this wealthy and significant today arguably because there were direct rule from the top at one point or another post WWII. What comes after, naturally, is what those governments of today will have to admit, address and tackle. Great set of post-Korean war content here!

Just one correction, the word 'chaebol' is not pronounced as 'chai-bol', but rather as 'che-ball'. But otherwise, this was a very informative and enjoyable video.

"Coup against himself." South America be like: First time?

They collaborated with the Japanese, Committed war crimes in Vietnam and provide help in the 2003 US invasion of Iraq...South Korea

We Wish to Have a Feature episode about the Philippines under Ferdinand E. Marcos

I mean 2 coups in around 30 years is not bad It was quite stable and actually improved the economy Look at how Argentina and many other military dictatorships took down their country South Korea is acutally on the lucky side

South Korea take the Place, we all thought will be from Japan

I hope that you mention the 2nd and unofficial Korean War when talking about South Korea again.

I have just found this channel and love it. The content is amazing in breadth and so interesting. I can think of dozens of ideas for the channel. I’d love to one on how the young of the ussr felt about western culture in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

Myanmar history is filled with them to this day

Revolution? Do you mean coup? If you can’t even distinguish between revolution & coup, you should start learning English first before yapping about history.

Missed the Saemaul Undong programme he implemented.

All of this started because archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.

titanium, respect.

its funny to think that between 1953 and 1987 neither NK & SK had democracy, and freedom while under military Rule (SK til 87 while NK is yet to be seen) Park also followed line of NK that was the Hair Style Regime cuz once he came to power many Hair Styles wore Outlawed, Banned and had to be cut Both Men n women btw. Also Japan helped SK in the industrial areas of Korea like Steel Mills n Naval shipyards by Funding the work n send workers to help them as a sort of compensation from Japan colonial rule 1910-45. Also workers worent allow no excuses just like they didnt have rights but with one thing about Park was this: If he felt the Construction was below standart he had it Blown up/Tore it down and Start Again also they worked so fast that accidents wore frequent. and

Not that difficult to correctly pronounce Chaebol: "Jay (not "Chai") - bole"

Back then, South Korea chose the way of surviving instead of being starved. Because the leader Yun didn't know how to develop the nation's futuristic economy to rescue poor people. So the protagonist of the coup Park built the national economy & its development plans for the first time to be a better country. Thereby, SAMSUNG, Hyundai, LG, and other major companies could build their business basis to raise Korea's economy through the central government's political support. So lots of poor Koreans could obtain their jobs to feed themselves & family members, moreover, most Koreans praised Park's effective economic schedules except for a few democratic activists. Furthermore, he decided to join the Vietnam War because the US administration & its leader Kennedy demanded the South Korean army should join the war, and if don't the US army in South Korea would leave to dispatch the Vietnam War. At the time, South Korea does not have any other options to dodge the offer from the US, so had to follow America's order. From 1965 to 1973, a total of 500,0000 Korean soldiers went to the Vietnam War to fight against the communist side NVA, VC guys, and the reason is to protect Vietnam's democracy. After ending of the war, the US government gave South Korea modernized infantry weapons like M-16 & M60 machine guns to improve the Korean army's combat capabilities. In 1969, the Korean Republic could boost its national economic plans based on America's final support. But that was final and no more support for Korea because the US had to support other underdevelopment nations in Latin America or Africa. Thus, South Korea had to feed its people through its efforts without America's economic backup since 1969.

Modern Korea owes everything to Park Chung Hee. Everything he did makes sense if you understand that he loved his country and did everything possible to build up a very poor country and defend it against another invasion. If Korea was led by the group of weak, self-serving leaders since his death, then South Korea would still be a very poor country, or more likely, have fallen to the North (in the 70's).

Based ROK

Looking forward to your episode on Park's later years and what came after

Can you do a feature episode about the Philippines under Ferdinand E. Marcos as well as under Martial Law from 1972 to 1986

I always surmised that president park had a genius level I q . His coup for instance could have failed. But he secured all departments so that it would not. On the other hand , his offspring who also became president failed miserably. I suppose she could not overcome all her political enemies.

King/emperor of Korea should be restored.

These are fantastic pieces of the puzzle which is History. [ ….and I like his comments about “liking, subscribing and hitting the bell” - always just a bit of good humor]. 📻🙂

If you guys are interested how he died watch the movie named "The man standing next" (2020)

Very interesting, thank You!

man where is the next part of this history of Korea, what about Chun's takeover and later fall?

Ironic how South Koreans refuse to acknowledge all the rape and pillage their soldiers perpetrated in South Vietnam but at the same time demand that Japan compensate and acknowledge their war crimes against Korea.

Wait… you went with Red Velvet over Blackpink?🤔🙄

Why did I laugh wen u sed he got assassinated 😔 I'm a bad person ha

좋은 정보인지 누가좀 한국어로 번역좀 해주세요

Hi! i was wondering if you have a video about the chinese american rapprochement in the 70s?

A symbolic modern leader who brought about unprecedented growth in world history, called the Han River Miracle.. Due to the nature of the region in confrontation with North Korea, there are still many North Korean followers and leftists in South Korea. Like the divided Germany of the past Democracy is a luxury for the hungry. 95% of people in the Joseon Dynasty before Japanese colonization were almost like slaves. Not to mention illiteracy. It is not as easy as it sounds to transform uncivilized people who have not changed even after liberation into modern people. Korea was liberated in 1945. The Korean War that broke out in 1950 ended in 1953 and there was nothing left in south. Park came to power in 1961 just after 8years end the war. Who the hell can say democracy here? Tell me just one person if there was like restored the war that ended in '53 and achieved what he accomplished in less than 20 years from '61 to '79.. There are too many opponents in Korea who don't like talking about the miracle he accomplished. Even here, there are many people who do not know anything about the situation at the time and like to speak easily by substituting the current standard. Still, opponents portray him as a brutal murderer. In the circumstances of the times and in the local context, what he did was directed at political opponents, not ordinary people. It was a time when an armed spy was attempting an assassination attempt, and a time when an invasion was attempted by digging a tunnel. If he had been indecisive and unable to make such a decision at the time, it would have rather harmed ordinary people. I just hope you do not believe the instigation of leftists in Korea who oppose him and make your own judgment. You just need to know that the leader that North Korea feared the most was Park.

why would anyone get a meaningless ring??? hmmm...

For once I'm here before 500 views! This episode looks like it'll be interesting.

AND RED VELVET BRO WHO IS THE STAN WHO WROTE THE SCRIPT TELL ME YOU STAN PLEASE

Park Chung-hee and Jeon Doo-hwan: The first step in Korea's attempt to become independent in the field of nuclear weapons/weapons The final stage. And at the same time, it was the worst time for relations with the United States and the worst time for democracy in the Republic of Korea. On the contrary, North Korea was developing nuclear weapons the earliest days.

박정희 대통령도 있었지만 냉전을 먹고 산 나라죠. 미국의 지원이 커서 지금의 대한민국이 있는거예요. 지금의 한국도 미국이 없으면 아주 곤란한 나라가 됩니다. 세계 강대국들의 집합소가 동북 아시아입니다. 지정학적으로 고립된 나라입니다.

Syngman Rhee was a out of touch President.

First of all He PARK JEONG HEE SAVED OUR LIVES ALL OF THE KOREAN LIVES !!!!!!!!!!!! GOD PROTECT US PLEASE

South korean ultranationalist: 😠😠😠

Do a video about the Philippine 4th Republic 1973-1986 (Marcos Regime) next time