Korea: In Search of Stability

Abstract

General Pak Chung-hi, head of the military junta that seized control of the Korean government in May 1961, entered 1963 with his plans for a great human revolution somewhat tarnished. Inflation, economic stagnation, mixed results in the agricultural program, and the appearance of corruption within the ranks of the junta itself, all were driving Pak to end direct military rule and to seek a popular mandate. As the restrictions on political activities were lifted in the new year, in preparation for the elections scheduled for late spring, and as the junta began to intensify its campaign to organize a political party, fierce political battles began to rage within the junta. As the internecine struggles developed, the main point in contention was the concentration of power in the hands of Brigadier General Kim Chong-p'il, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency and the nephew by marriage of General Pak. The first sign of serious discord was manifested by General Song Yoch'an, former premier in the junta cabinet and the renowned commander of the first ROK Army under whose auspices General Pak rose in rank. General Song's charges were specific and apropos. On January 8, Song charged that it was a betrayal of the public pledges for the junta members to put aside the military uniform and enter politics. On the ninth he also charged that General Kim was in fact the law and the state. On the sixteenth, General Yu Won-sik, another powerful member of the junta's Supreme Council of National Reconstruction, who had been in charge of financial and economic affairs, made similar charges and threatened to expose the background of the currency reform of 1962.