NKIDP Project Coordinator James Person and Public Policy Scholar Jongdae Shin interviewed by Korea’s KBS News

October 23, 2009

NKIDP Project Coordinator James Person and Wilson Center public policy scholar Jongdae Shin were interviewed for two reports by South Korea’s KBS News on newly obtained documents detailing North Korea’s initial reaction to the military coup of Park Chung Hee in 1961. The Chinese documents, obtained by Shin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, describe how North Korea positively assessed the military coup at first, considering Park Chung Hee a progressive. The documents also demonstrate how North Korea’s initially positive evaluation of Park changed once he declared his hostility to communism. The presence of the anti-communist military government in South Korea forced North Korean leaders to alter economic priorities and postpone the launch of the 7-Year-Plan by two years.

View the KBS report about North Korea’s initial evaluation of the Park coup here.

View the KBS report about North Korea’s 7-Year-Plan here.

History and Public Policy Program
Woodrow Wilson Center
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Email: happ@wilsoncenter.org