Kon BambooSchoot

Park Chung Hee
Born Sept. 30, 1917 near Taegu
1961 Overthrows civilian government as leader of military coup
1963 Elected President and soon after initiates economic reforms
1972 Proclaims martial law
1974 Assassination attempt on him by North Korean agent kills his wife
1979 Shot to death Oct. 26 in Seoul by head of South Korea's intelligence agency

Despite a dictatorial streak, South Korea's long-serving President converted an economic basket case into an industrial powerhouse

In late November 1974, President Park Chung Hee presided over a dinner at his favorite golf course north of Seoul. U.S. President Gerald Ford had just completed a successful visit to South Korea, and Park was feeling expansive. His golfing guests included U.S. Ambassador Richard Sneider and General Richard Stilwell, the United Nations Forces commander. Koreans at the dinner--the defense minister, the intelligence director and others--sat like plebes at West Point, never speaking unless addressed by their President.

At the end of a long silence, I asked Park if he ever compared himself to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. The President shifted his heavy gaze to the questioner, contemplating him as a rattlesnake might look upon a mouse. After a pause, he replied, "I do not know much about Kemal Pasha, but I would like to do for Korea what he did for Turkey--make it economically strong and militarily secure." Park added that he did not intend to serve indefinitely as President and that he often thought that had he not chosen to stand for another term in 1972, his wife might still be alive. She had died in a 1974 assassination attempt against her husband.

Five years later Park himself was assassinated. By that time, after 18 years at the helm, he had become increasingly isolated from his people and his regime had grown markedly more repressive. These trends, combined with an economic downturn, caused many Koreans to feel that he had stayed too long as President.

The U.S. never found it easy to deal with Park, whose agenda was shaped by his country's immediate needs, not broader issues such as human rights or free trade. Park was a patriot, with a deeply ingrained skepticism toward foreigners. When he seized power in 1961, he was virtually unknown to American officials. Trained in the Japanese Army and later suspected of leftist connections, he was not the man the U.S. would have chosen to lead the new Korea.

As it turned out, he was just the man Korea needed. In 1961, per-capita income in South Korea was less than $100 a year. North Korea, with mineral resources and an industrial base, was regarded as the stronger power on the peninsula. Park moved quickly to correct this imbalance. Within weeks of his coup, he had established a body to provide central government direction to economic development. A five-year plan was developed, and Park put knowledgeable economists in charge of implementing it.

Recognizing the need for large infusions of foreign capital, Park took the vital but highly unpopular step of normalizing diplomatic relations with Japan. This sparked campus demonstrations in Seoul in 1964, and Park responded by imposing martial law until quiet was restored. Normalization with Japan was achieved in 1965, bringing with it $800 million in economic aid.

Park agreed that year to send two Korean divisions to fight alongside U.S. forces in Vietnam, for which Korea was richly rewarded by Washington. In the mid-'60s, revenues from the Vietnam War were the largest single source of foreign-exchange earnings for Korea. These funds helped launch the country's transformation over the next two decades from economic basket case to world leader in iron and steel production, shipbuilding, chemicals, consumer electronics and other commodities. Korea's per-capita income increased tenfold during Park's tenure.

On the political front, Park gradually yielded to pressure from the Kennedy Administration and re-established civilian rule. In 1962, a national referendum restored a presidential system, under which Park was elected President in the following year.

Easily re-elected in 1967, he had a hard time beating Kim Dae Jung in 1971. The validity of Park's narrow election victory is still questioned. In 1972, fearing Kim's political potency, Park changed the election system, allowing indirect voting that could be controlled by the incumbent. In 1972 and again in 1978 he was easily elected for six-year terms.

The early 1970s were a pivotal period in U.S. relations with Korea. From Park's perspective, America's failure in Vietnam made it a less reliable ally and increased the need for South Korean strength and self-reliance. The 1972 yushin (revitalizing reforms) system was a swing back to authoritarianism. Many political leaders were arbitrarily arrested, and the security apparatus entered its most draconian period, putting down dissent and becoming infamous for its use of torture. (Kim Dae Jung escaped arrest only because he was out of the country.) Park was fortifying his political base in preparation for an attempt to establish a dialogue with North Korea.

In May 1972, Park secretly sent a trusted ally, intelligence chief Lee Hu Rak, to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Il Sung. Lee admiringly voiced his impressions of Kim: "Quite a guy, very strong, one-man rule!" In fact South Korea's yushin system was in many ways a reflection of North Korea's policy of juche (self-reliance). The 1974 assassination of Park's wife by an agent who had been aided and instructed by North Korea ended North-South dialogue for some time. But Park must be given credit for beginning the process.

One day in August 1973, Kim Dae Jung, who had loudly and courageously been criticizing the yushin system, was kidnapped from a hotel in Tokyo. U.S. Ambassador Philip Habib immediately ordered his aides to find out where the opposition leader was being hidden. Informed the next morning that South Korean agents had seized Kim, Habib rushed to Blue House, the presidential mansion, to tell Park. The result was that Kim, on a small boat, tied hand-and-foot and waiting to be thrown into the East Sea, was returned safely to Seoul. Not long afterward, Park fired Lee Hu Rak after learning of strong American opposition to his agency's actions against South Korean citizens who opposed the yushin system. The intelligence chief's replacement was a former justice minister who did much to curtail the use of torture.

Park's final years in office were not his finest. He missed his wife deeply and withdrew into the inner recesses of his presidency. Koreans became restive under his overly long rule. Rivalries simmered among his staff. U.S.-Korea relations soured under the pall of a Korean-led Congressional bribery scandal in Washington and President Jimmy Carter's obsessive desire to pull American troops out of Korea. The costs of staying in office too long were lethal to Park. His assassination, by his latest intelligence director, was followed by at least a decade of public discredit. Slowly, however, his economic achievements, patriotism, frugal lifestyle and strength of character have reasserted themselves in the public mind. Even President Kim Dae Jung has spoken of him in positive terms, citing his role in transforming Korea from an underdeveloped country into an industrial power. Today in South Korea, Park is recognized and respected as his country's most effective leader.

South Korea is full of monuments to Park Chung Hee, from the giant steel mills, shipyards and factories he built, to the superhighway system he launched. All are reminders of the man who, more than any other, made South Korea what it is today in economic terms. Had Park followed the advice he gave to himself in 1974, at the golf dinner, he might still be alive to enjoy the national affection he so richly deserves.

Donald Gregg served as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea from 1989 to 1993 and now heads the Korea Society in New York

Chulalongkorn Bangkok
Born Sept. 21, 1853 in Bangkok
1868 Succeeded his father, King Mongkut, to the throne
1883 Death of the regent who restricted his reforms
1900 First railway line completed
1902 Established Chulalongkorn University to train a corps of provincial administrators
1905 Abolished slavery
1907 Met with European leaders to ensure Thailand's sovereignty
Died Oct. 23, 1910

Thailand's beloved monarch reformed his ancient land and opened it to the West, without surrendering its sovereignty

Every night, throngs of Thais of different backgrounds and ages congregate in groups large and small at the Royal Plaza in Bangkok. In the serene atmosphere of this vast public space, they set up altars with candles and joss sticks to pay homage to their beloved, long-deceased monarch, King Chulalongkorn, Rama V of the Chakri Dynasty. They solemnly show their respect to the equestrian statue, ensconced at the center of the plaza, that symbolizes his majestic reign. It is a moving and impressive sight.
The King ascended the throne in 1868 and reigned for 42 years until his death in 1910. During that time he became one of the world's best-known monarchs, celebrated in literature and drama. Thais remember and revere him as a paragon of learning, accomplishment and dynamism, the man who more than any brought their ancient nation into the modern world.

When he succeeded to the throne of Siam, as the country was then known, on the demise of his father King Mongkut, or Rama IV, he was a mere boy of 15 in feeble health. Even though Siam was notionally an absolute monarchy, the power he inherited was limited. Real authority lay in the hands of a small oligarchy of noble families. Their control of the nation's purse, the forced labor of the peasantry, the provincial administration, the legal system and the line of succession imposed enormous constraints on the young monarch. In fact, it was a sign of the oligarchs' power that they succeeded in placing on the throne such a young and seemingly sickly king, who was not expected to live very long.

This was not an auspicious climate for any new ruler. The only factor in the boy's favor was the invaluable training he had received from his father. Chulalongkorn was the beneficiary of a superb and balanced education that combined both classical Thai and modern Western elements. He had also enjoyed a valuable apprenticeship at his father's side. Otherwise, the deck was stacked against him. In the initial period of his reign, King Chulalongkorn had to function under the guidance of the regent--the foremost nobleman--and other members of the regent's family who held powerful administrative positions. The King realized that the reforms he wanted to introduce, especially to the monarchy itself, would be greeted with hostility by the oligarchs, whose power and vested interests would inevitably be threatened.

Why was the young monarch so intent on reform? One obvious reason was to shore up his insecure throne. But also lurking in the King's mind was an external threat. European ambitions in the region were becoming overt and aggressive in the late 19th century. The colonial expansions of Britain, France and other powers were in full steam. A way had to be found to resist European imperialism, in both political and commercial terms. To confront the colonial powers openly would have courted disaster; to shut off his kingdom from the outside world and oppose foreign concepts and thinking would also have led to catastrophe.

King Chulalongkorn decided on a third option, constructive engagement with the colonial powers. He did this by opening up the country to the West through skillful diplomacy, yielding concessions without giving up sovereignty. The King was also buying time to consolidate his power through a modernization drive. He experimented with innovative changes in his own household by updating the dress code, sponsoring Western-style education for his younger brothers and associates and filling the court with open-minded young men who shared his vision. He also studied various models of European colonial administration during visits to Dutch and British holdings in Java, Malaya, Burma and India in 1871 and 1872. He was slowly and quietly laying the groundwork for the centralization of administration in Siam.

The conservative nobility did not at first grasp the significance of King Chulalongkorn's activities. Their complacency enabled him to embark on a series of reforms at his second coronation on Nov. 16, 1873. It was a sort of coming of age, as the king was now 21. A start was made in the abolition of slavery. The practice of prostration in public and at ceremonial events was discarded. Some major financial and legal reforms were undertaken. The Privy Council and the Council of State, bodies that acted like a cabinet and a panel of advisers, respectively, were set up. Before long, though, these moves generated anger and defiance from the nobility. Sensing an imminent confrontation with the old guard, the King temporarily retreated and let the reform measures lie dormant.

But he knew time was on his side. By the early 1880s, the ranks of the regency began to dwindle. The end of the chapter came with the death in 1883 of the regent and in 1886 of his designated successor. The King named his eldest son as crown prince. Chulalongkorn's enthusiasm for reform was revived, but he was still constrained by a lack of competent and trusted bureaucrats to implement his program. So the King turned to his younger brothers, whose modern education he had helped to guide and whose minds were imbued with a spirit of innovation. He appointed them, some still in their early 20s, to positions of authority. He also recruited a number of foreign advisers in various fields of expertise.

What the King did next touched nearly every aspect of the lives of his people. Provincial administration was brought under centralized direction and augmented by specialized functional ministries. Modern law codes and other judicial reforms were decreed, and these went a long way toward pacifying the European powers' discontent with the legal system. Fiscal administration was centralized and modern accounting, budgeting and auditing procedures were adopted. Roads and bridges, railways, telegraph lines, irrigation canals and water gates were constructed. Mining projects were launched. Mapping was introduced. The King also vastly expanded educational and medical services. The military forces were upgraded through conscription and the founding of a military academy.

King Chulalongkorn never forgot that his kingdom's economy was based on agriculture. To benefit the rural population, he introduced land title deeds, as well as a more equitable land tax and collection system. The King also developed unexploited land by the intensification and extension of agriculture, forestry and mining. Those and other economic reforms helped bring unprecedented industrial growth and increased foreign trade.

The King championed education and the teaching of ethics and morality. Education, in his view, was not only an instrument to serve national needs, but the means to ensure a better quality of life for his people. He established a primary education system by making full use of Buddhist monasteries over the entire kingdom, and he introduced a formal curriculum for the training of teachers. Furthermore, he established vocational and trade schools and a civil service institute, which subsequently became Chulalongkorn University, to prepare young men and women for public service. By increasing the knowledge and worldliness of the people, this "popular education" policy would, ironically, lay the seeds for an anti-monarchical movement in the 1932 revolution.

The direction, substance and comprehensiveness of King Chulalongkorn's reforms were startling. He almost single-handedly ushered in a new order to replace the old one. And while he succeeded in restoring absolute monarchy to the throne, he was not in search of personal power. He was seeking power as a means to effect progressive change and advancement for Siamese society. He was convinced that fundamental change was right and necessary, from both a Buddhist and a Western perspective.

The miraculous preservation of Siam's independence and sovereignty, in contrast to the experience of other Asian countries, was due in large measure to the King's reforms, diplomatic skills and ability to consolidate central authority. These were the qualities that endeared him to his subjects--to such an extent that the Thai people donated money to erect the King Rama V equestrian statue at the Royal Plaza to commemorate the life and deeds of a king whose legacy left a permanent imprint in the hearts and minds of his people. King Chulalongkorn was indeed a symbol of an enlightened age in Siamese history. Through his leadership and vision, a traditional Southeast Asian kingdom was transformed into a modern nation.

Anand Panyarachun is a former Prime Minister of Thailand