The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History (96 page)

WP: Washington Post

C
HAPTER
I: W
HERE THE
W
ILD
B
IRDS
S
ING

DMZ setting, see Fran Kaliher of Two Harbors, MN, research associate of the International Crane Foundation; Yoon Moo Boo, “DMZ: Paradise for Migratory Birds,”
Koreana
(Winter 1995); and Jimmy Lee, inter view, July 8, 1995.

The Emergence of Two Koreas
:
Historical details from Carter J. Eckert et al.,
Korea Old and New: A History
(Ilchokak Publishers, for the Korea Institute, Harvard University, 1990), and interviews with Eckert. For invasions and occupations, Donald S. Macdonald,
The Koreans
(Westview, 1988), 1–2. Stertinius’s ignorance from Louis J. Halle,
The Cold War as History
(London: Chatto & Windus, 1967), 202n. The Whelan quote is from Richard Whelan,
Drawing the Line
(Little, Brown, 1990), 27. The Rusk quote is from Dean Rusk,
As I Saw It
(Penguin Books, 1990), 124. The Summers quote is from Summers telephone interview, February 11, 1997. The Henderson quote is from Gregory Henderson’s chapter in
Divided Nations in a Divided World
(David McKay, 1974), 43.

War and Its Aftermath
:
Kim Il Sung on not sleeping, ciphered telegram from Shtykov to Vyshinsky, January 19, 1950, in “Korea, 1949–50,”
Cold War International History Project Bulletin
(Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars) (Spring 1995): 8. For origins of the Korean War, see especially Kathryn Weathersby’s work for the Cold War International History Project. The casualty figures are from Whelan,
Drawing the Line, 373
. Kim Il Sung’s secret emissary was Hwang Tae Sung; his mission was described by Chinese and Russian sources as well as by Lee Dong Bok, interview, July 15, 1993.

The Origins of Negotiation
:
For Kim Il Sung’s presence in Beijing, see Henry Kissinger,
White House Years
(Little, Brown, 1979), 751. For new insights into Chinese efforts to deal with Pyongyang immediately after the Kissinger visit, see Bernd Schaefer, “Overconfidence Shattered: North Korean Unification Policy, 1971–1975,” North Korea International Documentation Project (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars), Working Paper 2, December 2010, 6. For Chinese military supply, see
USFK Hist. 1974
, Secret (declassified 1994). Kim Seong Jin quote, Kim interview, October 15, 1993. For Park remarks to correspondents, Son U Ryun, “Voice Testimony of Park Chung Hee,”
Monthly Chosun
(March 1993), in Korean.

For Park letter to Nixon, Theodore Eliot, “Reply to President Park Chung Hee’s Letter on East Asian Problems,” Department of State Memorandum, November 4, 1971, Secret (declassified 1978); “For Ambassador,” Department of State Telegram (December 13, 1971), Secret (declassified 1996); and “Seoul Receives Assurances from Nixon on China Talks,”
NYT
, December 26, 1971. The Park quote on unprecedented peril is from Park Chung Hee,
Korea Reborn
(Prentice Hall, 1979), 48.

For the secret plenum of the Workers Party, conversation of Hermann Axen (member of GDR Politburo) with DPRK ambassador Lee Chang Su (July 31, 1972),
SED Archives
. Henderson quote on KCIA is from Mark Clifford,
Troubled Tiger
(M. E. Sharpe, 1994), 85. Lee Hu Rak quotes are from Michael Keon,
Korean Phoenix
(Prentice Hall International, 1977), 129–130. This controversial book contains one of the few interviews with Lee on his Pyongyang mission. Lee was among a mere handful of Korean figures who declined to be interviewed for this book. On Lee Hu Rak’s harrowing ride, see Kim Chung Shik,
Directors of KCIA
, vol. 1 (Dong-Á Ilbo, 1992), in Korean.

Kim Il Sung
:
Separating fact from fiction about Kim’s early life is a formidable task. I have relied primarily on the most authoritative biography in the West, Dae-Sook Suh’s
Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader
(Columbia University Press, 1988). For Kim’s Christian background, see Yong-ho Ch’oe, “Christian Background in the Early Life of Kim Il-Song,”
Asian Survey
(October 1986). For Kim’s own account, see Kim Il Sung,
With the Century
(Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1992), 1:105–107. Kim in Soviet uniform, Suh,
Kim Il Sung
, 60.

The Stalin quote on “young country, young leader” comes from US expert John Merrill, who heard it from a Russian with extensive experience in Pyongyang. Medvedev on Kim as a “normal person” is from Vadim Medvedev,
Collapse
(International Relations, 1994), in Russian. For Kim’s mansions and isolation from the people, see the memoir of Hans Maretzki (former East German ambassador to North Korea),
Kimism in North Korea
(Anita Tykve Verlag, 1991), in German. The 1984 train procedure was told to me by a Soviet official who took part.

Special health arrangements for Kim in Germany, former East German diplomat, interview, June 10, 1994. The Rakhmanin quote is from Rakhmanin interview, April 8, 1994. The Talleyrand quote is from Roald Seveliev (of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Moscow), interview, April 8, 1994. On the early history of
juche
, see Michael Robinson, “National Identity and the Thought of Sin Ch’aeho:
Sadaejuui
and
Chuche
in History and Politics,”
Journal of Korean Studies
(1984).

The Kim quote on “special emphasis” is from
KIS Works
, 27:19–20. Han Park
on juche
is from his book
North Korea: Ideology, Politics, Economy
(Prentice Hall, 1996), 10. On the thirty-four thousand monuments, see Maretzki,
Kimism in North Korea
. The “cult of personality” quote is from Rakhmanin interview, April 8, 1994. The Suh quote is from Suh,
Kim Il Sung
, 314–315. South Korean visitor quotes, interview, November 22, 1994.

Kim on the “situation at my fingertips,”
KIS Works
, 31:87–88. Kim to Solarz, transcript of Kim Il Sung-Solarz conversation, from the Jimmy Carter Library. On the ouster of high officials for new ideas, “Number One Taboo in Pyongyang: Challenging Kim’s Authority,”
Vantage Point
(Seoul) (May 1995). Kim’s words “said forever,” former communist diplomat, interview, June 10, 1994. On Kim’s statue, Suh,
Kim Il Sung
, 316. Kim description from Harrison Salisbury, “North Korean Leader Bids U.S. Leave the South as Step to Peace,”
NYT
, May 31, 1972.

Conversations with the South
:
For the Kim-Lee meeting, see the transcript published in
Monthly Joong-ang
(March 1989), in Korean. Chong Hong Jin, who was present with Lee, told me in an interview (May 27, 1993) that it is essentially accurate. A North Korean version can be found in
KIS Works
, 26:134ff Additional documents on the inter-Korean meetings in 1972 are in “New Evidence on Inter-Korean Relations, 1971–1972,” North Korea International Documentation Project (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars), September 2009. The story of twenty-one-year-old Poco Underhill is from his father in a telephone interview, August 26, 1996. Ambassador Lee’s presentation to the GDR, from conversation of Hermann Axen with Lee Chang Su (July 31, 1972),
SED Archives
. Kim Seong Jin’s quotes on Park are from Kim interview, May 24, 1993.

C
HAPTER
2: T
HE
E
ND OF THE
B
EGINNING

On the Red Cross exchange, the Chung quote is from Chung Hee Kyung interview, July 19, 1993. “Bringing all the tall buildings”: This is one of the most oft-repeated anecdotes about the visit of the North Korean Red Cross delegation to Seoul and has been attributed to several different South Korean hosts. The Yun speech at the opening ceremony is from “Public ‘Disappointed’ in Propaganda” (September 14, 1972), 14; and National Unification Board, ROK, A
White Paper on South-North Dialogue in Korea
(Seoul, 1982), 119. On the South Korean decision to televise the opening ceremony, Kim Seong Jin interview, November 15, 1992. On intelligence management of South Korean protest, Chung Hee Kyung interview, July 19, 1993.

On the talks and meaningless agreement, National Unification Board,
White Paper on South-North Dialogue
, especially 119. On Park’s views, Kim Seong Jin discussion, November 15, 1992.

Park Chung Hee
:
For my interview with Park, see Don Oberdorfer, “Korea: Progress and Danger,”
WP
, June 29, 1975. The story of Park’s office safe is from a senior Korean diplomat who learned of it from a close aide to Park. On Park and the Yosu rebellion, James Hausman telephone interviews, April 26 and September 23, 1995. See also Allan R. Millett, “Captain James H. Hausman and the Formation of the Korean Army, 1945–50,” unpublished paper from the Mershon Center, Ohio State University, 30. The embassy cable about Park is published in “Investigation of Korean-American Relations,”
Appendices of the Report of the House Committee on International Relations
, Subcommittee on International Organizations (October 31, 1978), 1:64.

Military assessment of Park,
USFK Hist. 1975
, 47, Confidential (declassified 1994). On Park’s intelligence countermeasures, see No Chae Hyon,
Office of the Secretary of the Blue House
, vol. 2,
Joong-ang Ilbo
(1993), in Korean, 254. For the poll on Park’s greatness,
Chosun Ilbo
, March 5, 1995, in Korean. Park quote on “pilfered household,” Frank Gibney,
Koreas Quiet Revolution
(Walker, 1992), 50. On Park’s plans and operations in the economic field, see the excellent book by Mark Clifford,
Troubled Tiger
(M. E. Sharpe, 1994), from which the quote from the first economic plan is taken. The same source is used for the ROK’s Vietnam earnings (57) and the Pohang steel mill (67–75). Park as “orchestra conductor” quote, Michael Keon,
Korean Phoenix
(Prentice Hall International, 1977), 79. The Kim quote on Park’s economic choices is from Chung-yum Kim,
Policymaking on the Front Lines
(World Bank, 1994), 30.

On Park’s honesty and modesty, Kim,
Policymaking on the Front Lines
, 117–118, and an interview with Jim Kim, political writer for
Joong-ang Ilbo
and author of a book on Park, May 18, 1996. The Cho Soon quote is from his book
The Dynamics of Korean Economic Development
(Institute for International Economics, 1994), 180. The growth data are from Kihwan Kim and Danny M. Leipzinger,
Korea: A Case of’ Government-Led Development
(World Bank, 1993), 1. The income distribution data are from D. M. Leipziger et al.,
The Distribution of Income and Wealth in Korea
(World Bank, 1992), 7.

Washington Blinks at Park’s Coup
:
On Habib and the
yushin
plan,
Emb. cable
, “ROKG Declaration of Martial Law and Plans for Fundamental Government Reform,” October 16, 1972, Confidential (declassified 1996). On Habib’s anger at lack of forewarning, Francis Underhill, telephone interview, July 29, 1996. Marshall Green quote, Green telephone interview, August 13, 1996.

Habib’s hands-off recommendation,
Emb. cable
, “Comment on Martial Law and Government Change in Korea,” October 16, 1972, Secret (declassified 1996). Washington’s reaction,
DOS cable
, October 16, 1972, Secret (declassified 1996). Habib’s policy of disassociation,
Emb. cable
, “U.S. Response to Korean Constitutional Revision,” October 23, 1972, Secret (declassified 1996). Washington’s endorsement,
DOS cable
, “Ref Seoul 6119,” October 26, 1972, Secret (declassified 1996). Nixon to Kim Jong Pil, Don Oberdorfer, “South Korean Abuses Tolerated,”
WP
, May 19, 1976. The quote was supplied by Donald Ranard, then Korea country director, who obtained it from a White House participant.

The Impact of
Yushin
: On the harassment of Chang Chun Ha, see Don Oberdorfer, “Korea: The Silencing of Dissenters,”
WP
, December 31, 1972. Chang was the man referred to as “Mr. Lee.” For his death, “Controversy over Dissident’s Death
Rekindled,”
Newsreview
, April 13, 1993. On the silencing of Korean press, see Don Oberdorfer,” The Korean Press,”
WP
, December 28, 1973.

On differences in Pyongyang over policy toward South Korea, see
Cold War International History Project
(Wilson Center), “North Korea’s Efforts to Acquire Nuclear Technology and Nuclear Weapons: Evidence from Russian and Hungarian Archives,” Working Paper 53, Hungarian Embassy report, November 22, 1973, Document no. 25, 51.

On Donald Gregg’s opposition to Lee Hu Rak, Gregg interview, March 12, 1995. For country recognition data, see Samuel S. Kim, “North Korea and the United Nations,” paper prepared for the 1996 Annual Conference of the International Council on Korean Studies, 31.

C
HAPTER
3: T
HE
T
ROUBLE
D
EEPENS

This account of the assassination attempt on Park is based on my eyewitness recollection and several published accounts. The number of bullets fired and the issue of whose bullet killed the first lady were extensively investigated by two of my colleagues who were also on the scene, Sam Jameson of the
Los Angeles Times
and Bruce Dunning of CBS News. They found many inconsistencies between the government’s official account and their reporting but were unable to reach conclusive judgments. The Kim Seong Jin quote is from Kim interview, May 24, 1993. On the shoes and handbag (which I did not notice at the time), see Michael Keon,
Korean Phoenix
(Prentice Hall, 1977), 199.

On students and Christians, see Koon Woo Nam,
South Korean Politics
(University Press of America, 1989), esp. chap. 4. On the Niedecker incident, Richard Ericson interview, February 16, 1994, and Gregg interview, June 21, 1993. For Niedecker’s account, memorandum from John E. Niedecker to General A. M. Haig Jr., July 29, 1974, Confidential (declassified 1997). It was also widely reported after the fact. For the intelligence assessment about student radicalism,
USFK Hist. 1974
, 37, Confidential (declassified 1995).