PARK CHUNG-HEE

Koreans stuck to their traditional way of life without knowing what was going on outside the country. We were like frogs in a well.

We must do our part to end poverty in Korea so that the next generation doesn't experience what we are going through now.

If the North Korean Communists provoke another war, we must immediately deter it and give them a decisive counterattack at the initial place of aggression.

I have repeatedly emphasized that the Communists in North Korea appear to have set 1975 as the year of aggression against the South.

In May 1961 when I took over power as the leader of the revolutionary group, I honestly felt as if I had been given a pilfered household or bankrupt firm to manage. Around me I could find little hope of encouragement. The outlook was bleak. But i had to rise above this pessimism to rehabilitate the household. I had to destroy, once and for all, the vicious circle of poverty and economic stagnation. Only by reforming the economic structure would we lay a foundation for decent living standards.

How can a country like Korea, which was not fully prepared for the upcoming era, be as rich as Germany now?

In May 1961 when I took over power as the leader of the revolutionary group, I honestly felt as if I had been given a pilfered household or bankrupt firm to manage. Around me I could find little hope of encouragement. The outlook was bleak. But i had to rise above this pessimism to rehabilitate the household. I had to destroy, once and for all, the vicious circle of poverty and economic stagnation. Only by reforming the economic structure would we lay a foundation for decent living standards.

How can a country like Korea, which was not fully prepared for the upcoming era, be as rich as Germany now?

Koreans stuck to their traditional way of life without knowing what was going on outside the country. We were like frogs in a well.

If the North Korean Communists provoke another war, we must immediately deter it and give them a decisive counterattack at the initial place of aggression.

We must do our part to end poverty in Korea so that the next generation doesn't experience what we are going through now.

I have repeatedly emphasized that the Communists in North Korea appear to have set 1975 as the year of aggression against the South.