Was President Park Chung-Hee A Totalitarian Dictator?
To begin with, one negative view of president Park Chung Hee is totalitarian dictator. Many people believed Chung-Hee is a dictator because of the 5.16 Coup of 1961. Korea became an independent country after World War II. Korea was a colony under Japan. Before the end of independence people were happy but after World War II, Korea experienced much civil fighting and it divided in to North and South Korea. North Korea was supervised under USSR. South Korea was supervised under US. South Korea is a liberal democracy country, but South Korea was full of corruption after Korean War. Korea was in chaos. However on May 16, 1961 Major-General Park Chung Hee, with 3,000 soldiers, advanced to the Han River. Although President Yun sent troops to prevent a coup, many military leaders joined the coup.
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This military coup was the first coup in the Korean history. Major-General Park eradicated the Second Republican government. The 5.16 Coup is different from other coups. Major-General Park Chung Hee and his soldiers did not kill President Yun; however, President Yun resigned after the coup. US tried to stop the coup but Koreans were not interested on Coup. "Both Chargé d’affaires Green and General Magruder, as the documents show, were interested in suppressing the coup even after the coup forces entered Seoul. But they could not move on their own when the South Korean society at large appeared have abandoned the democratically elected government in favor of a solution outside of the institutional venues"(Cho 3 par.
This military coup was the first coup in the Korean history. Major-General Park eradicated the Second Republican government. The 5.16 Coup is different from other coups. Major-General Park Chung Hee and his soldiers did not kill President Yun; however, President Yun resigned after the coup. US tried to stop the coup but Koreans were not interested on Coup. "Both Chargé d’affaires Green and General Magruder, as the documents show, were interested in suppressing the coup even after the coup forces entered Seoul. But they could not move on their own when the South Korean society at large appeared have abandoned the democratically elected government in favor of a solution outside of the institutional venues"(Cho 3 par.