Introduction

        Nowadays, an awful lot of talk about former President Park Chung-hee has been going on for the last few months with the emergence of nostalgia about Park, and several results of surveys prove how many Koreans are interested in discussing him, even if twenty years have flowed away since he passed away. According to the recent research, lots of people think of President Park as the most successful leader among Koreans presidents, and the person who has affected Koreans the most in the 20th century.  In addition, those who are affected by the so-called "Park's syndrome" are appealing to the public for taking part in building a memorial, although the ultimate valuation about him and his term has not been clearly established yet. Therefore, it is needed to estimate him through a careful examination. Park Chung-hee who was born on November 14, 1917, grew up like other Korean people. Basically he planned to be a teacher in elementary school. At least, it seemed to be true that he wasn't an outstanding figure in his early days. However, in the days of his youth, after he made up his mind to enter the Japanese Military Academy which would change his life, he turned into someone else. Throughout his military study, he ranked first, and graduated in 1944 at the head of his class. After that, he worked continuously for the country as a competent colonel. His ability was informed to the people and politicians as soon as the Korea War broke out. Finally he became one of the most powerful men in Korea at that time. No wonder many people worshipped and respected him.
        Depending upon those people for help, he rebelled against the incapable Yun Bo-sun's cabinet on May 16, 1961. In this emergency, first, he made the Military Commission to control the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and suggested six commitments for justifying his disorder. To be a president, he did a number of things step by step. Subsequently, he won an election, which meant he became the fifth president of the Republic of Korea. At last, he could become the fifth to ninth president.

Achievements and Mistakes

        As the president, Park Chung-hee carried into effect thousands of plans some of which turned out really nicely, but some of them were bad also. Because of his achievements and mistakes, President Park Chung-hee earned two separate reputations. Let's see what they are specifically.
        At the time that he was elected to be president for the first time, Koreans suffered from poverty and disease owing to the Korean War. So the masses wanted a hero who could save them from their horrible circumstances as well as make things better. Fortunately Park Chung-hee was the perfect politician for their tastes. The country needed a president who was an expert on economics first, like him, with strong leadership.
        To develop the Korean economy, he executed the fifth five-year economic and social development plans. Thanks to these plans, in 1977, Koreans eventually accomplished one hundred million dollars in exportation, since struggling with North Korea's invasion. Beyond this, he had an idea to improve the rural economy and environment, the New Community Movement. This campaign was successful enough to be his best policy. As a result, Koreans were able to produce rice for their own use, not depending on another country. These his profitable policies of his were called the "Miracle on the Han River" in the end.
        Even though he did what he thought was right, his works caused serious problems. In the process of keeping his power, he made some blunders: before five elections, he also changed the Korean Constitution, always saying this would be the last time. Sometimes, he rigged the elections. He cheated on the public as well as himself. Moreover, he suppressed students who were against his political ideas and dictatorship. For that purpose, he was willing to ignore human rights instead of listening to what people said. It is true that he didn't have room for respecting human rights and democracy, because he was absorbed in only economic development.
        Indeed, he built many roads at the cost of the death of young Korean men who died in the Vietnam War. Also, Park Chung-hee set up immature capitalism in spite of Chun Tae-il's sacrifice, who burnt himself to death to demand laborers' minimum rights in the Pyunghwa Market. However, his peaceful and long tyranny couldn't be maintained by a majority of masses of people who were against it anymore.
        People are dignified and nothing can override human dignity. Even if President Park is praised for economic development, he neglected the basis of democracy so that we lost more things than we got through his influence. However, the nostalgia about Park in the IMF situation is extending to "Park's syndrome," and some people supporting him are trying to build a memorial. So to find out what they thought about President Park Chung-hee in general, we surveyed 30 people between the ages of 15 and 59, including 20 students and 10 adults, with five questions. This number also included two foreign professors. Let's check out the results of the survey.

Results of the Survey
 

Conclusion

        As you see from this research, we could find out that Park's patriotism, his strong leadership, the IMF situation, and disappointment in the present government are other reasons that people miss him and his term. To be honest, these are what we expected before we took the survey. On the other hand, one thing we wouldn't forecast was the total results of this survey. It was that most people were not supportive of President Park. Based on the recent newspaper's data, many people were affected by him, and loved him. However, our results were pretty different.
        In addition, we were impressed by one person's note: "His tyranny can't be justified by the economic and political situation. Ultimate reevaluation should be done with objective and truthful historicism." This is considerably opposite to one of President Park's daughters' words, that Koreans became more industrious thanks to him. But we dare say Koreans became more obedient to any leaders under the influence of him. We don't think he is worth being praised.
        His anxiousness about our country was great, and it is clear he played a decisive role in the economy during the 1960s and 1970s. No one can deny that he brought Koreans up from poverty and developed the Korean economic conditions. However, ironically, the very things that he did prevent the Korean society from going forward in various fields even now. For example, Korean democracy was delayed for almost twenty years, because the military governments succeeding him, such as President Chun Doo-hwan and No Tae-woo, were run by President Park.
        In the absence of an excellent hero, nostalgia about Park Chung-hee indicates how many Koreans want a real leader. It also shows us that people still need another politician with a new vision. Koreans miss not President Park Chung-hee, but a real hero who is faithful and loves this country with all of his or her heart. It's time to find an ideal politician we can be proud of.