4 September 23 – Nation Building in South Korea

Nation Building in South Korea: The Park Chung Hee Era, 1961-1979

A photo of General Park Chung Hee autographed in 1963. Park served as S Korea’s president from 1963 to 1979.

• Charles ARMSTRONG, “South Korea: The Rise to Globalism,” 21-31, 34-38
• Andrew KIM and Gil-sing PARK, “Nationalism, Confucianism, Work Ethic, and Industrialization in South Korea,” 37-49
• OH Myeong-seok, “Peasant Culture and Modernization in Korea,” 78-85
• Parade of Wives (dir. IM Kwon-taek, 1974)
• “Song of Saemaul“

Note: There is no homework assignment before Thursday’s class. The next homework assignment is due Monday, Sept. 27.

Thursday’s class follows our previous class on North Korea’s official program of nation building and decolonization by examining the parallel process in South Korea. In particular, we examine the Park Chung Hee, who was South Korea’s head of state from 1961 to 1979. Park has been the most influential leader in S Korea, but he is also the most controversial. This is because he is the historical figure most associated with the country’s economic “miracle.” And yet he was an authoritarian leader who evolved into a brutal dictator as he prolonged his rule over the course of nearly two decades. Countless activists who sought to make changes for workers, the urban poor, and in the political system were imprisoned and tortured under his clock; and many lost their lives.

With respect to this module, there were several key parallels between N Korean Juche ideology under Kim Il Sung and Park Chung Hee’s anticommunist developmentalist ideology, which is sometimes referred to as “Modernization of the Fatherland” (a slogan used by Park). Both systems demanded loyalty of the individual/family to the nation-state. And both worked through intermediary levels (school, workplace, locale, etc.) as sites for the dissemination and reproduction of state ideology. The immediate aims of Park’s system were decolonization by way of rapid economic development (to eradicate poverty) and the maintenance of national security (in the name of anticommunism). The long-term goal of the Park system was to prepare S Korea for eventual unification with N Korea — in which a prosperous, developed S Korea would absorb the North. But the achievement of this was a goal that was not realistically expected to happen any time soon. When Park had seized power through a military coup in 1961, he pledged he would hold power for just 1-2 years, But he ended up ruling South Korea for 18 years; repression and coercion were essential to preserving his hold on power. As his rule wore into the 1970s, public criticisms of–and challenges to–his presidency grew more strident, so he installed the new, draconian Yusin Constitution. This move expanded the state’s ability to stifle dissent, while ensuring the extension of his rule. He remained in power until he was assassinated in 1979.

The Armstrong reading provides a concise overview of the Park era, with a focus on South Korea’s industrial development under the US economic umbrella and on Park’s political authoritarianism. The Kim & Park essay complements the Armstrong reading by delving into Park’s nation building ideology. The Oh excerpt provides further ideological background for Thursday’s film. Oh gives an overview of the Saemaul (New Community) Movement, which was launched in the early 1970s. It was a nationwide program designed to boost agricultural and industrial development–and to reassert Park Chung Hee’s ruling legitimacy (which had begun to decline as Park forced constitutional changes that allowed him to become president for life). Park’s Saemaul Movement was meant to be the grand articulation of Park’s ideological vision for Korea. It was South Korea’s analogue to North Korea’s “Cheollima Movement,” which was launched in the late 1950s to jumpstart North Korea’s postwar rebuilding–and boost Kim Il Sung’s political legitimacy. The implementation of South Korea’s Saemaul Movement should also be seen in the context of the imposition of S Korea’s draconian Yusin Constitution in 1972. That same year, the new Juche Constitution was promulgated in N Korea in 1972. Viewed in this light, the early 1970s were a period in which the system of national division became even more deeply consolidated.

The primary source for Thursday is the 1974 Saemaul propaganda film Parade of Wives, which was made by one of the leading film directors in S Korea, IM Kwon Taek. You will notice that Oh’s section on the “Cultural Representation of the Saemaul Movement” is depicted directly in the film. But also pay attention to the film’s cultural memory of the Korean War. This ties to the film’s clear anticommunist stance. Also, pay attention to the who (which characters? who/what do these characters represent?) leads the process of rural modernization. Compare the agents of rural modernization in this film and in When They Pick Apples. How do they differ? How are they similar? How does gender fit into the agency of modernization? The government is in the background of both films. What is the implicit role of the state in modernization?

Two films in a week can be tough, so I am pointing out selected parts of the film that you can devote extra attention to:

• Start to 19:20. This is a lavish rural wedding (from the standpoint of 1960s-70s rural Korea) for the film’s two main characters. It connects to Oh’s “Cultural representation of the Saemaul Movement” and it also contains a cultural memory of the Korean War.
• 36:00-42:00. The wife begins to convince others to embark on Saemaul-style rural modernization.
• 50:30-1:07:00. The wife, an outsider, convinces the women of the village to embark on a new path; her husband is convinced as well.
• 1:18:00-1:28:00. The new spirit spreads to the men of the village.
• 1:39:00-1:57:00. The film returns to cultural memory of the Korean War and the theme of anticommunism.

Reminder: You will be examining either When We Pick Apples or Parade of Wives, in the upcoming short essay, which is due October 1. The essay will be a detailed scene analysis. You will select the scene (from one of the two films). It should be an important scene that connects to the broader message of the film, and that you can situate within the broader context of nation building/decolonization in Korea. So as you watch the films, keep an eye out for key scenes that seem particularly interesting to you. More information on the essay to come.

You can also watch the “Song of Saemaul,” for an additional glimpse into the culture of SK nation building. The lyrics may be useful for your short essay.