All the foolish idiotic conservative fu-ks of korea who like park chung hee, a dictator and human rights abuser, a traitor and collaborator, a man whose name will forever be cursed by generations of koreans into the future, a shame of humanity...you need to wake the fu-k up and pull your thumb out of your @$$, and look at things from beyond your usual atmospheric limitations.

I dont give a fu-k if park used his unilateral leadership to kick start the south korean economy, because
A), he sold his country out to the US and JAPAn to achieve this (read below),
B), he is not really responsible for the economic miracle as much as the right makes him out to be, it is the korean people who worked their asses off, and the scholars who returned after being educated in the west and japan, that are chiefly responsible--the 5-year plans were substantiated by scholars from abroad and within the admin, none of it came from park's own knowledge. The only thing park did was announce the plan, consult with the experts, largely imitating japan and western european rebuilding, and push through with it using his absolute dictatorial powers,
and
C), korea could have achieved the same results a hundred thousand different ways, with a hundred thousand different leaders. Attributing something as complicated as economic growth to a single man is the fallacy on earth's deathbed that is comparable to attributing a storm to a single person, or attributing the Soviet Union's fall to Reagan (another example of favorite conservative tendencies to interpret the world in their own terms with selective comprehension).

Park is a traitor who worked under the japanese imperialists. He had clear convictions against communism because he was an imperialist puppet. He didn't give a damn about the korean people, as his history tells us, and the only reason why he strained his neck to pursue an economic prosperity goal for south korea was because he felt insecure about his kingdom being poorer and less developed than north korea, and was genuinely worried of a communist revolution for that reason.

Read the excerpt below from flower pig in another thread, and i think it particularly summarizes the eternally cursed cocksucker's legacy:

"Park Chung-hee sold them out with the 1960s secret treaty with Japan, officially forfeiting most rights for Korean citizens to sue Japan in exchange for a boatload of cash and loans. Korean people didn't find out about this agreement until about 12 years ago when a group of former comfort women tried to sue Japan, and the Japanese court revealed it. For the decades in between many people were deceived into thinking the money had been blood money the US paid for South Korean involvement in Vietnam. Probably many people still think so. The money was used for among other things, building the Seoul-Busan highway."

That thing about the deal Park made with Japan over reparations was big news in Korea a year or so ago so I think most people are aware of it. I think people's reaction is resigned disgust, as no-one expects much from politicians even though they hope.

You're mocking him for consulting with experts?
The system is sometimes called bureaucratic authoritarian by the way. While it is authoritarian (which is never really a good thing) it obviously worked out better than the personalistic/patriarchal authoritarian system that’s been in place for some 60 years in NK.
And btw, communism is the ultimate form of imperialism... world wide revolution... spread your system throughout the globe... yep sounds like imperialism to me.
And I don't love to suck PJH. After all, he was dead before I was born so how could I?

you know, i've heard lots of criticism against PCH but most of the older educated Korean's I spoke with while studying there (mostly business leaders and lawyers) gave PCH the most credit for making Korea what it is today instead of toiling in poverty and economic dispair much like North Korea is now. At the time he came to power, South Korea and the Philippines were in much similar situations, with the Phils being actually a bit of head economically, and they went separate directions in their policies with engaging with the West and inviesting in infrustructure. South Korea has prospered in a way that other countries copy, the Phils is pretty much 3rd world still.

You don't have to give him all the credit but to give him none is rediculous. There might have been 1000 different ways to get S.Korea to where it is today, but there are probably more ways they could have screwed up and collapsed.

lateman, i like how you defend Kim Jong-il and North Korea's actions but you criticize a less severe leader who actually made his country something to be reckoned with in a way that benefits all the people (instead of starving the people to finance a Nuke program like NK has done). Don't give me the Park Chunghee is a sell out BS, he sided with the West, Kim Il-sung sided with China. One side chose wisely, the other...poorly.

Lateman, tell me the difference between Park Chunghee and Kim Il-sung or KJI? Then tell me how PCH is worse than the NK leaders.

Reading first-hand accounts on Park Chung-hee from people who worked closely by his side will give you a sense of respect for ROK's greatest president. PCH was hardly the man who simply gave orders from the top. One good example is when Pohang Steel, made from financial resources given by US aid and Japanese war reperations, was about to go bankrupt. The president took the matter to himself by calling every potential buyer around the world until some U.S. buyer decided to buy. That saved Pohang Steel from bankruptcy, and it became the backbone of Korean economic development. Another backbone of Korean economic development is the Kyungbu Expressway, which was also made from U.S. aid and Japanese war reparations. Kyungbu Expressway served as the main artery of the country, transporting goods to and from Pusan where they are exported and imported. In other words, Pohang Steel was Korea's foundation of industrial production, and Kyungbu Expressway was Korea's foundation of international trade. Both were built under the leadership of PCH.

Another important point is that PCH also gave people HOPE. Back then Korea was a destitute place, one of the poorest countries in the world. PCH, with the mottos "do it then it's done(하면 된다)" and "We can live a good life too(우리도 잘 살아보세), gave people a new meaning to life. Koreans worked very hard, but why? Ignorant and clueless people who say it was "Confucian work ethics", even though no such thing exists(Confucian scholars and aristocrats were the greatest and the most worthless slackers in Chosun society). Those Koreans, fathers and mothers of our generation(the 20s), worked hard because they BELIEVED, and HOPED that their children could have a better tomorrow. This hope for a better tomorrow is the fundemental cultural value, formed under the leadership of PCH, that drove Korean sociocultural and economic development.

The problem with the expressway was it was built in such a short time, many shortcuts in construction were taken. It wasn't made for the kind of traffic we get nowadays, so for many years, it has been under reconstruction. With that said, however, it worked well for the traffic of PCH's time, and it "served as the main artery of the country," as you mentioned.

하면 된다! An attitude that worked well in its time but which has now passed.

lateman you are so full of $hit, you are so fu-king communist it disgusts me

yeah, Lateman will defend NK and its dear leader as he starves his people to finance his nuclear amibitions but will heavily criticize PCH and the SK government which is certainly not perfect but has policies that have proven to be sucessful for the prosperity of their people... kinda odd huh?

만세 박정희 대통령

s h u t u p

calm down Ino

Lateman = North Korean trained boy who's job is to spread communistic propaganda.