Park Chung-hee

Park Chung-hee was a South Korean politician and army general who seized power in a military coup in 1961 and ruled the country as a dictator until his assassination in 1979. He is widely credited for transforming South Korea from a poor and war-torn nation into a modern and prosperous one, through his economic policies and industrialization drive. He also suppressed civil liberties and political opposition, and imposed a harsh authoritarian regime that violated human rights and democracy. He was killed by his lifelong friend and chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Jae-gyu, during a dinner at a safehouse inside the presidential compound. His legacy remains controversial and divisive in South Korean society, as some view him as a national hero and others as a tyrant and a traitor.