The London School of Economics and Political Science The Foreign Policy of Park Chunghee: 1968- 1979 Lyong Choi A thesis submitted to the Department of International History of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, June 2012 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 97,173 words. Statement of use of third party for editorial help I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Vincent Demba Liptrot and Keith Hubbard. 2 Abstract This thesis is a history of South Korean policy towards North Korea and its general foreign policy at the time of fluctuation of relations between the allies, the Republic of Korea and USA, between 1968 and 1979. The thesis shows how American East Asian policy and South Korean people‘s aspiration for the reunification and democracy of Korea affected Park Chunghee‘s Cold War strategy. After Park Chunghee failed to find a common ideological foundation with the Americans, the South Korean leader started to re-consider the inter-Korean problem and ROK- US relations in realistic term. In the late-1960s and early 70s, Seoul shifted from antagonism toward Pyongyang to negotiation with the North Koreans in order to support American rapprochement with China. But simultaneously, the Park regime established the authoritarian state and resisted the American influence on its foreign policy. With regards to the ROK-US rift, the thesis points to their misperceptions between the South Korean and American leaders in their war in Vietnam and East-West reconciliation. In addition, this thesis also shows how South Korean nationalism and liberal movement affected Park Chunghee‘s policy. The aspiration of South Korean public for the reunification and democracy of Korea pushed policy makers over despotic rule and the aggressive policy toward North Korea. 3 The Foreign Policy of Park Chunghee: 1968- 1979 Table of Content Introduction…………………………………………………………………..p.5 Chapter 1: The Turning Point: A Rift between the Republic of Korea and the United States, 1968………………………………………..p.31 Chapter 2: The Peaceful ‘War’ in Korea: Détente and South Korea’s Northern Policy, 1969- 1971………………………………….p.53 Chapter 3: Détente in Korea and the Restoration of Anticommunism, 1972- 1974……………………………………………………………..p.91 Chapter4: The Post- Vietnam Crisis and Demise of the Park regime, 1975- 1979...........................................................................................p.136 Conclusion...................................................................................................p.190 Bibliography……………………………………………………………….p.206 4 INTRODUCTION On the Korean peninsula, the southern and northern states – also known as the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People‘s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – have continued their conflict after end of the Cold War. A terrible fraternal war was fought in the 1950s, and the threat of war still exists. The border between the two Koreas is one of the most intensely militarized areas in the world and hence there is always the fear of war on the Korean peninsula. Nevertheless, the current perception of the threat does not seem as acute as it was during the Cold War. For historians who study the Cold War, it is important to identify the processes by which the political situation on the Korean peninsula has changed. The problem lies in which factors to emphasize in that analysis. One of the most significant indicators of change lies in the evolution of South Korea‘s Northern policy. Considering the hostility between the two Koreas in general, the term ‗policy‘ here will have to encompass both diplomatic and military affairs. In the case of the global history of the Cold War, it is also necessary to review the South‘s policy changes towards the North in order to establish Korea‘s general place in the Cold War. Due to severely limited research possibilities in North Korea, however, my thesis focuses on South Korea alone. South Korea‘s Cold War strategy is clearly distinguished from that of America‘s other allies or of Third World nations. Most of these countries could change their relations with Washington, Moscow, or Beijing because of their own economic and/or political interests. Throughout the East-West conflict, however, South Korea closely worked with the US and did not have diplomatic relations with Communist superpowers. While other American partners, such as Japan, opened up diplomatically toward the Communist states, especially during the Sino- Soviet split and the détente era in the 1970s, the ROK took no such initiatives. The reason for this is obvious. South Korea‘s archenemy, Pyongyang, was closely aligned with both the two major Communist states, the Soviet Union and China. Seoul continued to reject normalization with any Communist state up until the late 1980s. Because of Seoul‘s heavy reliance on Washington and its hostility toward Moscow and Beijing, South Korea was in many ways hostage to changes in American foreign policy. This study will analyse why South Korea was very late in breaking out of this diplomatic stranglehold. My thesis will first discuss the ROK‘s policy towards the DPRK between 1968 and 1979 when, under the rule of President Park Chunghee, South Korea started to make changes in its policy towards the North, the other Communist states, and its own allies. These changes later 5 became the basis for ROK foreign policy today. I will also discuss the general aspects of the ROK‘s foreign policy that have affected its Northern policy. In this thesis, the South Korean general foreign policy encompasses its policy toward Communist countries other than the DPRK and towards its capitalist allies, mainly the US and Japan. Although the research starts from 1968, it is also necessary to briefly discuss the historical background from the pre-1968 period. My first goal is to identify how South Korea‘s policy towards North Korea was created and what its aims were between 1968 and 1979. Then, by examining the ROK‘s foreign policy, the influences from the surrounding or allied major powers on Korea will be identified; namely, the USA, China, the USSR, and Japan, all of which continuously affected South Korea‘s Northern policy. Moreover, the political dealings between the two Koreas will be discussed. This study will therefore contribute not only to Korean historiography, but to the historiography of the Cold War, because it will help track the process through which South Korea‘s role in the later Cold War emerged. My own military experience has shaped my understanding of the interrelation between the ROK‘s Northern policy and the level of hostility between the two Koreas. During my time in the South Korean military, the level of hostility between the two Koreas was a matter of life and death to myself and my comrades, and the policy of my government towards the North was a principal indicator of that hostility. For two and half years, every morning, we recited our oath to protect South Korea against the threat posed by our countrymen to the North. It was only after developing my academic training that I was able to escape the psychological impositions of military service. Before starting my MPhil/PhD course at the London School of Economics, I utilized archival sources and oral histories provided by Dr. Sergey Radchenko during his stay in Seoul in the summer of 2007. He required translation and interpretation assistance from Korean into English. While helping him, I also benefited from his research. After starting my degree at LSE, I further benefited from the tutelage of my supervisor, Prof. Odd Arne Westad, from other faculty members, and from the advice of my PhD cohort in the International History department. All of this background helped establish my own research methods for my thesis and my approach to my subject. The most important primary archival sources in my research are government documents in South Korea. We are now in a position to gain access to hitherto unavailable documents from the Park Chunghee era thanks to recent declassification of government materials, especially from the Foreign Ministry, Reunification Ministry, and within the National Archives. The archive of the Foreign Ministry is administered by the IFANS (Institute of 6 Foreign Affairs and National Security), which also serves as the main training school for diplomatic officers. This year, the Foreign Ministry began a gradual opening of its archives for the period up to and including 1982.1 Some of the documents on military and/or political conflicts or talks between the South and North, and on dialogue between South and North Korea and other states, i.e. the US, USSR, and/or China, are now available. Although the topic of inter-Korean relations remains an extremely sensitive one, the archive of the Foreign Ministry of South Korea is the most important source now available to provide information about the causes and results of any change in the Republic of Korea‘s policy toward the North and other nations. The ROK National Archives provide materials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding North Korea. They can help to track the policy-making process within the ROK government on reunification and national defence, both of which directly link to the ROK‘s foreign policy.