About the Webinar

Park Chung Hee ruled South Korea for nearly twenty years from May 1961 until his assassination on October 26, 1979 and is widely credited for leading South Korea’s rapid industrialization process that transformed the country from one of extreme poverty into one of the leading economies in the world. However, his rule is also associated with human rights abuses and repression of the Korean Democracy Movement. In particular, Park Chung Hee’s promulgation of the Yusin Constitution in 1972 created a more authoritarian system of government which perpetuated his hold on power indefinitely. As Park Chung Hee sought to entrench himself in power, a revitalization of concern for human rights in the United States was emerging in the wake of the Vietnam War and set up a period of tension between the US and South Korea over the human rights issue. This talk will discuss these tensions and why the US was ultimately unhelpful in assisting the Korean Democracy Movement as a new military ruler, Chun Doo Hwan, took power in 1980.

About the Speaker

Benjamin A. Engel recently completed his Ph.D. at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of International Studies where he focused on US-ROK relations, and South Korean democratization, and more broadly on modern Korean history. He also completed his Master’s Degree at the same school in Korean Studies. He was a Research Associate at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University from 2016 to 2019 and a Research Associate at the East Asia Institute from 2015 to 2016. His doctoral dissertation focuses on how U.S. human rights diplomacy towards the Republic of Korea evolved during the 1970s and how the Republic of Korea responded to outside pressures to democratize during an era in which Park Chung Hee sought to perpetuate his own rule.

About the Moderator

Sang Kim has served as the director of the MU Asian Affairs Center and Missouri International Training Institute since September 2004, and as director of the MU Confucius Institute since November 2015. From 1998, he served in the Asian Affairs Center as the Korean program coordinator, assistant director, associate director and interim director. Sang brings hands-on experience and knowledge of international relations in the Pacific Rim countries to his position at MU. Sang and his teams establish and maintain partnerships and programmatic relationships with universities and government entities. These relationships have resulted in the development of various educational programs for governments and academic and research institutions, which enhance the influence and connections of Missouri throughout Asia.