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“Who Was Park Chung-hee?” The Memorial Landscape and National Identity Politics in South Korea

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Abstract

President Park Chung-hee played a predominant role in shaping South Korean history, yet he remains a controversial figure. This paper explores the way this controversy has manifested itself in the memorial landscape and its significance within the context of national identity politics. It is argued that the debate between conservatives and progressives over the memory of Park has complicated the discourse beyond the prevalent focus on ethnic nationalism. The increasing place allocated for Park in the memorial landscape since 2008 is a tangible manifestation of a memory boom that appeared a decade earlier. Thus, the creation of an encouraging atmosphere in this regard can explain the correlation between the establishment of consecutive conservative governments and said trend. The way the memorial landscape has changed has offered an opportunity to think about a form of national identity which is more intricate. However, with the socio-political camps entrenched in their respective positions, the high-profile controversy has reflected the competing agendas and the degree to which the two sides differ on the fundamental components of national identity. The controversy over the memory of Park has thus both reinforced the divide between the political camps and demonstrated the extent to which it is deep.

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Notes

  1. For a succinct survey of the related literature, see Campbell ([2], pp. 483–484). As Campbell notes, Shin’s [60] study is a “comprehensive exposition of ethnic nationalism in Korea” ([2], p. 484). Indeed, some scholars [2, 44, 58] have demonstrated that the notion of ethnic nationalism too has been met with challenges, especially as a result of globalization and democratization processes.

  2. A second National Cemetery was established in the late 1970s and completed in 1985 in the city of Daejeon.

  3. On the assassination attempt, see Oberdorfer and Carlin ([49], pp. 42–45).

  4. See Kirk [37] for a critical approach to this policy.

  5. See Song [63] for an intriguing account on the social implications of, and the responses to, the crisis.

  6. See the media reports [33, 34].

  7. See Kramer ([39], pp. 81–101) for a discussion on sacrifice and national identity.

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  1. Department of Asian Studies, The University of Haifa, Mt Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel

    Guy Podoler

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Podoler, G. “Who Was Park Chung-hee?” The Memorial Landscape and National Identity Politics in South Korea. East Asia 33, 271–288 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-016-9261-y

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