50th anniversary of 1961 coup

Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the 1961 military coup d`état. The Constitution of the Third Republic under then President Park Chung-hee and the Fourth Republic called the coup "a revolution." From the Fifth Republic, however, the Constitution eliminated information on the coup. The deletion has huge implications. The coup d`état was staged against a legitimate government and characteristic of those in poor countries.

When the coup erupted, the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps conducted a survey of citizens on streets. Forty percent supported the coup, 20 percent were in favor of it but said it was premature, and 40 percent opposed it. Then Prime Minister Jang Myun later wrote a memoir saying he resigned because then President Yun Bo-sun supported the coup. Explaining the background of the event, U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Samuel Berger said students who drove out President Rhee Syng-man in the 1960 student uprising rallied to pressure the Jang-led administration. The government failed to maintain order, and this hampered public hope for democracy.

A poll shows Park Chung-hee remains the most admired among Korean presidents. Many who suffered springtime hunger, otherwise known as barely hump, remember him well because he was the first Korean leader to relieve Koreans from starvation since the mythical founder of the Korean nation Dangun. When economic nationalism prevailed after the student uprising, Park embarked on an export-oriented industrialization to jump on the global trend of free trade. Evaluations of Park are mixed. He was praised for his contribution to economic development but blasted for suppression of democracy.

Are economic development and suppression of democracy the two sides of the same coin? Some say that though Korea`s industrialization was largely because of Park’s leadership, it was not something that only an authoritative leader could do. Countries such as Germany and Japan prospered after wars by implementing parliamentary democracy. Others say that in a developing country with little modernization basis, industrialization cannot be achieved without authoritative leadership. Either way, a great step forward has been achieved by evaluating the 1961 coup d`état with the barometers of both democracy and industrialization, rather than evaluating just democracy.

Editorial Writer Song Pyeong-in (pisong@donga.com)