I came here today to invite the West German ambassador and express my gratitude to the German government and people who provided loans in the early stages of our economic development and gave us the invaluable experience and wisdom to revive Germany, which was in ruins during World War II, and to make it a prosperous country.
However, due to circumstances, the German ambassador could not come, but our country has become the most prosperous country in its 5,000-year history, and has become one of the top 10 prosperous countries in the world with a national income of over $35,000.
Today, on the 107th anniversary of the birth of former President Park Chung-hee,
How did President Park Chung-hee, a leader sent from heaven, turn a poor country that was oppressed and exploited by neighboring powerful countries for 5,000 years into the world’s poorest country so quickly into a prosperous and advanced country?
How did he wisely unite the will of the people and succeed in facing countless difficulties?
What kind of country helped our country?
His patriotic spirit, his innate genius, and I would like to have the opportunity to remember the heroic leadership with you all once again.
I started my public service career in 1961 by being appointed as an administrative officer in the office of the Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction of the May 16 Military Revolutionary Government, and The author served him for 18 years.
At that time, the Supreme Council was a place where the military officers who hosted the revolution were fully armed and it was very difficult to live.
I was the only civilian in the room, and the revolutionary army officers looked at me in national uniform with unusual eyes.
How did General Park Chung-hee think about starting a military revolution, what was his purpose, how did he succeed in the revolutionary task, and the countless difficult times that were unknown to the outside world, the author saw and felt from the side while serving him for 18 years, and the aithor would like to commemorate his patriotism and love for the people together today.
Background of the May 16 Military Revolution
Before the May 16 Military Revolution in 1961, our country was the second poorest and most destitute country in the world.
The people had nothing to eat, so they went out to the fields to dig up wild vegetables, climbed the back hill to peel pine bark and boiled it to eat, and barely made it through the barley pass with just the bark of a tree.
The youth had no jobs, so even after graduating from college, there was no place to get a job.
Meanwhile, when the North Korean puppet group was plotting an armed invasion,
We had no money, so we didn’t have any proper military equipment to stop the enemy, and the country had become a demonstration paradise, and the morale of the soldiers was at rock bottom.
Military officers’ movement to rectify the military.
Kim Jong-pil, Kim Hyung-wook, Oh Chi-seong, Gil Jae-ho, Ok Chang-ho, and 11 other elites from the 8th class of the Korea Military Academy, who saw this, became representatives and went to the Minister of National Defense at the time, Hyun Seok-ho, to suggest the corrupt plan of the military, but were refused an interview.
Disappointed by this, The decision of the representative officers to carry out a nationwide military revolution to remove the corrupt Democratic Party regime itself, rather than through peaceful means, became the basis for the May 16 Military Revolution.
They changed the plan for the revolutionary uprising four times.
They organized a revolutionary committee and took Major General Park Chung-hee as their leader.
They then collected extensive data on the domestic and international economy, society, culture, and especially the special nature of rural economic issues, and prepared a new form of government to achieve national revival.
Thus, with Major General Park Chung-hee, the commander of the Busan Military Base at the time, as the leader, they decided to carry out a military revolution on May 8, 1960 for the eternal future of the nation. However, the uprising was halted due to the April 19 Student Revolution.
The Marine Corps planned an uprising alone.
After the uprising was halted due to the April 19 Student Revolution, Marine Corps officers who were dissatisfied with the military personnel within the Marine Corps, led by the 1st Brigade Commander Brigadier General Kim Yun-geun, decided to carry out an uprising alone on April 15, the anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps. Decided
However, after learning that General Park Chung-hee’s revolutionary plan was underway, the Marine Corps’ own plan failed again
May 16 Korean Military Revolution
After that, Major General Park Chung-hee postponed the date of the revolutionary uprising three times and finally made a desperate decision on May 12, 1961
He flew to Seoul and met with Brigadier General Chae Myeong-shin, the commander of the 5th Division, Kim Jong-pil, Kim Hyung-wook, Oh Chi-seong, Gil Jae-ho, Ok Chang-ho, and 11 others from the Revolutionary Comrades Association, and decided on the date of the uprising as 3:00 a.m. on May 16
While the military changed the date of the revolutionary uprising four times, the Jang Myun government and the military leadership were well aware of the secret, but they had neither the will nor the power to stop it, thinking that it was finally coming, and the country and the people accepted the military revolution as a matter of course
The revolutionary army finally departed from the 6th Army Headquarters in Munrae-dong, Yeongdeungpo at 3:00 a.m. on May 16 and crossed the Han River Bridge to Seoul.
Finally, the revolutionary army took control of the three powers of the state without shedding a single drop of blood and organized the Military Revolutionary Committee with Army Chief of Staff Jang Do-young as chairman.
This is the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction of the Revolutionary Government.
And in the First Revolutionary Office,
“We have risen up because we have decided that we can no longer leave the fate of the country and the people to the corrupt and incompetent current regime and established politicians, and we have risen up to overcome the crisis of the fatherland that is wandering on the brink of collapse.”
And “We make anti-communism our top priority as a national policy. Comply with the UN Charter
Eradicate corruption and evils in society so far and promote a new atmosphere
Urgently resolve the people’s livelihoods that are struggling on the edge of despair and starvation and make all-out efforts to rebuild the national economy”
He announced his revolutionary pledge in this way
In this way, the ambitious plan of the revolutionary government gave a heavenly hope to the people who were in dire straits
General Park Chung-hee, the chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction who seized the three powers of the state and succeeded in the revolution, visited the United States to meet with US President John F. Kennedy, whom he considered to be closest to us, in order to save the people struggling on the edge of starvation and ask for help with the economic development plan
However, US President Kennedy did not like Chairman Park Chung-hee who had taken power after the military staged a revolution and suspended the constitutional government
He refused to meet Chairman Park Chung-hee and his party, saying that he could not lend money to a country that was living on aid.
Unable to meet the US president, Chairman Park Chung-hee and his party returned to the hotel and were filled with sorrow for the poor country. It is said that he returned with tears in his eyes
Chairman Park Chung-hee, who went to the United States, where he trusted the most, and was treated with hostility, was choked up by the sorrow of a poor country.
After much thought, he decided to become the first West German commercial minister in our national history
We think of West Germany, which has risen as a new power by creating the Miracle on the Rhine
Seeing West Germany, which has overcome the pain of a divided nation and the wounds of defeat like us and has risen proudly to create the Miracle on the Rhine, we decide to appeal to our situation in the same position.
And we also resolve to create the Miracle on the Han River like West Germany from the ashes of war.
The revolutionary government decided to send a vice-ministerial negotiation team led by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Jeong Rae-hyeok to West Germany at the end of November 1961.
However, there was no one to interpret in German at the time.
After looking into it, we were able to contact Dr. Baek Young-hoon, who was a government-sponsored student during the time of President Syngman Rhee, received a doctorate in economics from the University of Erlanken in Nuremberg, West Germany, and is currently a professor at Chung-Ang University. He joined the delegation as an interpreter.
The delegation arrived in West Germany, but no one wanted to meet them because they were from a poor country that no one had ever heard of.
Dr. Baek Young-hoon, who saw this from the side, went to his college professor who had graduated from the same university as Finance Minister Ludwig Erhard (who became West German Chancellor two years later) and tearfully begged to be allowed to meet the minister.
So on December 11, 1961, our delegation finally met Finance Minister Rudger Westrich, and the next day, we met Finance Minister Erhard and finally agreed to obtain a commercial loan of 150 million marks (approximately 30 million dollars).
The delegation hugged each other and cried. It spilled
But then another problem arose.
There had to be a bank guarantee, but there was no country in the world that would provide a guarantee for a country with no national credit rating.
The miraculously successful loan negotiations were in a situation where they would fall through.
Miners in Germany. Nursing Manpower Advancement
When he was holding the torn heart of a poor country, a savior-like German friend came to Dr. Baek Young-hoon.
It was a German friend named Schmidt who was working as a director of the Ministry of Labor and whom he had studied with in college.
He came to him and said, “I heard that your country has many unemployed people on the streets.” West Germany is currently short of miners to work in coal mines.
They have to dig 1,000 meters underground, but the geothermal heat is so hot that all the Pakistani and Turkish workers have fled.
He said that if Korea could send about 5,000 miners and about 2,000 nursing assistants, he could borrow money using their salaries as collateral.
After hearing this, Dr. Baek Young-hoon went to see Shin Eung-gyun, the then Korean ambassador to West Germany, and spoke to him. The ambassador immediately sent a telegram to the Korean government. And the government immediately put out a recruitment notice.
So 2,894 people applied for the first round of 500 miners. The competition rate was 6 to 1,
The qualification was for those with more than 2 years of experience, but in reality, 30% were college graduates.
They sent all of their salaries, excluding pension savings and living expenses, to their families in their home country.
The money they sent to Korea was 50 million dollars per year, which was a large sum of money, reaching 2% of our country’s GDP at the time.
By 1977, the number of miners who went to Germany was 7,932, and the number of nurses was 12,226.
Miners and nurses who got jobs in Germany secured their salaries
In this way, all of their salaries were sent to Korea through the German Commerzbank, and Commerzbank guaranteed the payment, which was the first time in our nation’s history that a foreign loan came in, and this money became the seed money for today’s economy, the Miracle on the Han River.
Later, President Park Chung-hee was invited to make a state visit to West Germany.
President Park Chung-hee West Germany State visit
The West German government invited the Korean president to visit Korea for the first time as a way to express gratitude to Korea for sending miners and nurses.
However, the sorrow of the poor country continued.
At that time, our country did not have an airplane, let alone a presidential plane.
We had no choice but to charter a Northwest Airlines plane.
However, a few days later, we received a call from the US saying that they could not lend us an airplane.
The reason was that they could not lend an airplane to a poor country that was living on aid. How miserable is that?
So the visit to West Germany by our president, who had been invited abroad for the first time, was in vain.
So the government sent a special envoy to West Germany and asked if they could send us an airplane since our country did not have one.
Thankfully, the German government arranged for a Lufthansa passenger plane that traveled from Germany to Japan via Hong Kong to stop in Seoul and pick up our president and his party.
So the plane arrived at Cologne Airport in West Germany on December 7, 1964 after 28 hours via Hong Kong, Bangkok, New Delhi, Karachi, and Rome, and was welcomed by President Lübke and Chancellor Erhard.
In my opinion, it was a state visit, but the president’s residence was less than 10 pyeong, and the attendants slept in a hotel room, paying separately for showers in the morning.
There were only about 20 flags of S. Korea hanging on the road,
and I was able to feel the frugal spirit of Germany that I had only heard about.
The loan negotiations proceeded rapidly, and an internal agreement was reached to borrow 150 million marks, but due to the procedure, a payment guarantee from an international bank was required.
However, there was no country on earth that would provide a payment guarantee to our country, which had no credit rating. There was none.
The German government decided to lend 300 million marks, which was more than the amount initially requested by Korea, on the condition that the miners and nurses in Germany deposit their salaries in the bank for one month, as a last resort.
At that time, the total amount remitted to their home country by our miners and nurses who were employed in West Germany was approximately 50 million dollars per year.
Among the Koreans here, there are some who remember my face even now, among those who worked as miners and nurses in West Germany.
The loan they received thanks to their hard work in West Germany became the seed money and the foundation for rebuilding our poor economy.
Let’s applaud their hard work once again.
To comfort miners and nurses,
Visiting Hambronn Coal Mining Company
And on December 10, President Park Chung-hee and his party visited Hambronn Coal Mining Company in Germany to comfort and encourage our country’s miners and nurses.
When they heard that our president was coming, about 250 miners and nurses dressed neatly in suits and hanbok and filled the town hall in the outskirts of Duisburg.
When President Park Chung-hee ascended the stage and the accompaniment of the national anthem began to ring out,
At the last line, “Let the Korean people be preserved as Korea forever,” people began to sob here and there, and the president and his wife, Yuk Young-soo, who was next to him, took out handkerchiefs and wiped away their tears.
Seeing the faces of our brothers who had dug 1,000 meters underground and whose faces were burnt black by the hot geothermal heat, and our daughters who were young nurses rolling and wiping the large corpses with alcohol-soaked gauze in a rural hospital in a foreign country, President Park Chung-hee The sorrow of poverty was overwhelming, and I couldn’t even take out the speech I had written in advance, and tears blocked my vision.
Let’s work hard.
Let’s work hard for our future generations.
I will work hard too.
Let’s create a miracle on the Han River, like the miracle on the Rhine River in West Germany.
Our president wiped away his tears and shouted this.
The miners and nurses chanted “Long Live President Lubke of West Germany,” and asked, “Please help our president.”
We will work hard. We will do anything.
In this way, the miners, nurses, and President Yuk Young-soo were entangled together, embracing each other and crying.
The West German President Lubke, who was next to him, took out his handkerchief and wiped our president’s tears.
I have never heard of a story in world history where a president went abroad and cried like this without touching his compatriots.
The president barely managed to shake off the miners and nurses who were holding the hem of the First Lady’s coat and calling for our president’s father and mother, and on the way to the hotel, the president shed tears. He could not stop, and President Rupke of West Germany continued to wipe our president’s tears with a handkerchief, saying, “Please stop crying now. Your Excellency, I will help you. Our German people will help you.” He comforted him like this.
As someone who watched President Park Chung-hee closely at the time, I still vividly remember the young President Park Chung-hee, who was filled with determination not to pass on a poor country to future generations.
On December 8, 1964, President Park Chung-hee met with West German Chancellor Erhard.
Impressed by President Park Chung-hee’s revolutionary spirit and his earnest patriotism to rebuild the country, Chancellor Erhard gave him some advice based on his experience in reviving the West German economy.
“When I was Minister of Economy and Finance, I visited Korea twice. Korea has many mountains, and if there are many mountains, it is difficult to develop the economy. We need to build highways. In Germany, Hitler built the Autobahn.
Next, cars need to run. That’s why the people’s car, Volkswagen, was built during Hitler’s time.
And to make cars, you need steel plates, so you need to build a steel mill.
And you need fuel, so you need an oil refinery.
For the economy to be stable, the middle class needs to be strong, and for that, small and medium-sized enterprises need to be We must foster it
We will help you
We will send you economic advisors
And we must join hands with Japan
We also fought 16 wars with France.
The German people still have resentment toward France
But after World War II, our Chancellor Konrad Adenauer visited French President de Gaulle and asked to shake his hand
I wish Korea would do the same
A leader must be able to see the future.”
In this way, he told our president about the golden wisdom and experience that made the Miracle of the Han River possible today, and promised to unconditionally provide a loan of 300 million marks, which is more than the amount we initially requested.
How grateful is this?
Our people should never forget this gratitude.
The next day, President Park Chung-hee drove a Cadillac on the Autobahn at a speed of 160 kilometers.
While riding in a car that was slippery, he stopped the car twice, got out, knelt down, and rubbed his face on the ground.
Our group, including Vice Prime Minister Jang Ki-young, also watched this while crying.
The German countryside passing by outside the car window was as beautiful as a painting. It was a very well-organized garden city. The farmhouses that were visible were beautiful, like villas.
When the president saw this, he said, “This is it,” and hit his head.
He decided, “In order to reduce the gap between cities and rural areas, we must also cultivate rural areas like this.”
In this way, President Park Chung-hee, based on the experiences and advice of Chancellor Erhard in West Germany, laid the Gyeongbu Expressway, built the Pohang Iron and Steel Company, built an oil refinery, normalized diplomatic relations with Japan, which he had regarded as an enemy, and received funds for the Japanese claims. He also started the Saemaul Movement and modernized rural areas.
Germany was the first country in our history to lend money,
and by receiving the support of Chancellor Erhard, who had created a wealthy country through the Miracle on the Rhine, our country, which had no seed money or technology, created the Miracle on the Han River and has now grown and developed into one of the world’s top 10 economic powers.
After completing President Park Chung-hee’s visit to West Germany and returning to the Blue House, I could not forget the miraculous things I had seen and felt.
So I wrote a travelogue.
And I sent this travelogue to the National Assembly for publication.
I heard that many members of the National Assembly at the time shed tears after reading this travelogue.
We must never forget the gratitude of the German government and people.
On the occasion of the birthday of the great leader President Park Chung-hee, who raised our country from poverty to an advanced country and made it a prosperous country, I once again pay tribute to his achievements and patriotism with all my heart.
Thank you.
Nov. 14. 2024.
Author:
National Restoration Association
Yang Jay-yoon (Ph.D. in LA)
Translator:
Dr. John Hoi Chang Kim
