(no subject)
To give some background to the last Korean Movie Night film:
"On October 16, 1979, over dinner, his KCIA chief, Kim Jae-kyu, pulled out a pistol and shot first Park's bodyguard and then Park himself, allegedly to end his repression of the people. Park's assassination seriously destabilized South Korea and afforded North Korea the most propitious circumstances it had encountered since 1953 to renew the civil war. Yet North Korea did nothing. In South Korea, the United States was suspected of having ordered Park's death, because the assassin was the chief channel of communication between the U.S. government and Park and because it was widely believed that the United States had grown tired of Park's nascent independence.
" the Americans did have one clear motive for wanting to be rid of him: as part of his efforts to ensure a South Korean victory in any new war with the North, Park had launched a program to build his own nuclear weapons, which the United States opposed. According to the Seoul daily Jungang Ilbo, his target date for having deployable bombs was 1985. Park's death stopped the program in it's tracks."
"Martial law and an interim government under former diplomat Choi Kyu-hah followd Park's death. Choi came up with a plan to spend twenty months writing a new constitution that would guide South Korea from authoritarian to democratic rule. This would put off political reform for a suitably long time. Washington barked the plan despite warnings that ordinary Koreans could not possibly remain politically patient for longer than a year. The extended hiatus in political leadership gave time for an unknown major general in the army, Chun Doo-hwan, time to prepare his own seizure of power. On December 12, 1979, General Chun, then in charge of defense intelligence at Republic of Korea (ROK) military headquarters, withdrew the 9th Army division, whose commandant, General Roh Tae-woo, was his co-conspirator, from the demilitarized zone with North Korea and used it to assume control over the rest of the armed forces. These military movements were undertaken without formal approval from General John Wickham, the U.N. commander, but there is every reason to believe that he had been informed and assented to them.The following May, General Wickham readily gave Chun permission to use the 20th Division in the final assault against Kwangju, and at General Chun's trial fifteen years later his main defense was that all his actions in 1979 and 1980 had been explicitly approved by Washington"
note: the South Korean armed forces were under the direct control of the U.S. On the night of May 17 Chun closed the universities, dissolved the National Assembly, arrested thousands of political leaders and banned all political activity. On the 18th, In the city of Kwangju a demonstration against martial law was met by 7th Brigade Paratroopers who attacked with fixed bayonets and flame throwers. In reaction the whole city rose in revolt and drove the paratroopers out. On the 23rd General Wickham released the forces Chun had requested from their duties on the DMZ freeing them for use in Kwangju. U.S. Ambassador Glysteen, having previously told Chun that the U.S. would not object to his use of the army against his own people, ignored a request from the people in Kwangju to intervene claiming that he could not verify the authenticity of the mediation request. On the 27the the 20th Division entered the city. The South Korean government later settled on a figure of at least 240 dead and Kwangju sources claim more than 3000 killed and injured. In the meantime Chun had Kim Jae-kyu (Park's assassin) executed and elected himself president.
Quotes from "Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire" by Chalmers Johnson. Any errors in the quotes are likely my fault.
Now, something pretty:
"On October 16, 1979, over dinner, his KCIA chief, Kim Jae-kyu, pulled out a pistol and shot first Park's bodyguard and then Park himself, allegedly to end his repression of the people. Park's assassination seriously destabilized South Korea and afforded North Korea the most propitious circumstances it had encountered since 1953 to renew the civil war. Yet North Korea did nothing. In South Korea, the United States was suspected of having ordered Park's death, because the assassin was the chief channel of communication between the U.S. government and Park and because it was widely believed that the United States had grown tired of Park's nascent independence.
" the Americans did have one clear motive for wanting to be rid of him: as part of his efforts to ensure a South Korean victory in any new war with the North, Park had launched a program to build his own nuclear weapons, which the United States opposed. According to the Seoul daily Jungang Ilbo, his target date for having deployable bombs was 1985. Park's death stopped the program in it's tracks."
"Martial law and an interim government under former diplomat Choi Kyu-hah followd Park's death. Choi came up with a plan to spend twenty months writing a new constitution that would guide South Korea from authoritarian to democratic rule. This would put off political reform for a suitably long time. Washington barked the plan despite warnings that ordinary Koreans could not possibly remain politically patient for longer than a year. The extended hiatus in political leadership gave time for an unknown major general in the army, Chun Doo-hwan, time to prepare his own seizure of power. On December 12, 1979, General Chun, then in charge of defense intelligence at Republic of Korea (ROK) military headquarters, withdrew the 9th Army division, whose commandant, General Roh Tae-woo, was his co-conspirator, from the demilitarized zone with North Korea and used it to assume control over the rest of the armed forces. These military movements were undertaken without formal approval from General John Wickham, the U.N. commander, but there is every reason to believe that he had been informed and assented to them.The following May, General Wickham readily gave Chun permission to use the 20th Division in the final assault against Kwangju, and at General Chun's trial fifteen years later his main defense was that all his actions in 1979 and 1980 had been explicitly approved by Washington"
note: the South Korean armed forces were under the direct control of the U.S. On the night of May 17 Chun closed the universities, dissolved the National Assembly, arrested thousands of political leaders and banned all political activity. On the 18th, In the city of Kwangju a demonstration against martial law was met by 7th Brigade Paratroopers who attacked with fixed bayonets and flame throwers. In reaction the whole city rose in revolt and drove the paratroopers out. On the 23rd General Wickham released the forces Chun had requested from their duties on the DMZ freeing them for use in Kwangju. U.S. Ambassador Glysteen, having previously told Chun that the U.S. would not object to his use of the army against his own people, ignored a request from the people in Kwangju to intervene claiming that he could not verify the authenticity of the mediation request. On the 27the the 20th Division entered the city. The South Korean government later settled on a figure of at least 240 dead and Kwangju sources claim more than 3000 killed and injured. In the meantime Chun had Kim Jae-kyu (Park's assassin) executed and elected himself president.
Quotes from "Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire" by Chalmers Johnson. Any errors in the quotes are likely my fault.
Now, something pretty: