Park Chung-hee

Park Chung-hee (September 30, 1917 – October 26, 1979) was a Republic of Korea Army general and the leader of South Korea from 1961 to 1979. Park seized power in a 1961 military coup d'état and ruled as an unelected military strongman until his formal election as the 3rd President of South Korea in December 1963 (a post he held for 16 years). Despite surviving two assassination attempts by agents of North Korea, Park was killed on October 26, 1979 by the chief of his own security services.

Park has been credited with the industrialization and rapid economic growth of South Korea through export-oriented industrialization. However he ruled the country in an authoritarian mannner with his administration committing numerous human rights abuses. Academics are split regarding this legacy, between those who credit Park for his purpose in rebuilding war-ravaged South Korea following the Korean War and those who condemn him for his dictatorial consolidation of power, particularly after 1971.

In 1999, Park was named by Time magazine as being one of the top ten "Asians of the Century".