https://blog.pmpress.org/2019/08/23/suit-against-the-cia-re-us-involvement-in-the-1979-assassination-of-south-korean-president-park-chung-hee/

George Katsoaficas vs CIA: Suit against the CIA re US involvement in the 1979 assassination of South

Korean President Park Junghee

 

제임스 하우스만은 1948년 부터 1980년 까지 미국 정보기관 에이전트로 한국에서 일했다. 그는 한국군의

 아버지라는 별명을 기지고 있다. 육군 대위의 신분으로 한국군 창설을 주도 했고 이승만과 미리 정해 놓은

시간 없이 만났다고 한다. 그는 박정희를 살려준 장본인이었을 뿐만 아니라 이승만을 대치할 수 있는 인물

로 하우스만이 그의 뒤를 봐주었고 5.16도 그가 도왔다는 소문이 있다. 이승만, 박정희 그리고 노태우는 그

를 한국 최고의 훈장중의 하나를 주어 표창 했다. 

 

밥 부르스터는 박정희 암살과 전두환 쿠테타 시절의 미 중앙정보부 한국 지부장이었다. 그는 

한국 주재 미대사관 직원으로 근무 했다. 말하자면 외국 정보기관 요원이 한국에 공식 직함을 

가지고 버졋이 활동하고 있었 던 것이다. 한국군 보안대 사령관이었던 전두환은 그의 친구 였

다.  그의 전두환에 대한 보고가 "전두환이 한국군 최고의 강력한 지도자"였기 때문에 미국이

전두환을 한국의 불안한 정국을 효율적으로 안정 시킬 수 있는 가장 적합한 인물이라고 판단

했다는 소문이다. 

 

이 두사람의 행적이 담긴 비밀 서류가 밝혀지기 전에는 박정희 암살과 12.12 사태 그리고 5.18

광주 학살의 진실을 알기 힘들 것이다. 

 

 

A. Historical Background

 

16. Immediately after World War II, a United States military government (USAMGIK) came into power in southern Korea. Within a year, local opposition to its policies (which many people blamed for widespread hunger, a cholera epidemic, and continuing repression at the hands of former Japanese loyalist police) produced a series of uprisings, which required massive force to quell.

 

17. In 1948, the ROK was created with support and under the direction of the United States, with Syngman Rhee installed as president. 

 

18. During the early post-World War II period in South Korea a US army officer, Captain James Hausman (“Hausman”), became the US combat coordinator on the ground in South Korea and became one of the chief US military liaisons with the ROK-eventually becoming the self-described “father of the South Korean army.”

 

19. Rhee’s administration initiated a “scorched earth” policy of repression against opposition to his rule.  In 1948 the Rhee dispatched the ROK’s 14th Regiment to put down rebels on Jeju Island.  Before they boarded ship, the men of the 14th mutinied and then took control of much of southernmost Korea, beginning with the city of Yeosu.

 

20. So serious was the situation in 1948 that USAMGIK headquarters sent a letter to Hausman, telling him, “The fledgling ROK government is tottering and Yeosu must be retaken immediately at all cost.”[1]  Hausman personally directed ten of the ROK’s fifteen Constabulary regiments (i.e. the fledging ROK’s army) to encircle and retake the insurgent cities one at a time-no matter what the cost to the population.

 

21. Through superior firepower provided and supervised by Hausman and an elite group of US officers, the ROK prevailed. Their military was comprised, with only one exception, of Korean commanding officers who had served in the Japanese military. Most were graduates of Manchurian Bong-Chun Military Academy, where they were specifically trained to hunt down Korean partisans.[2]

 

22. United States operatives were aware of the importance of the Japanese trained police and army officers to U.S. rule in South Korea.  These police and officers worked with the U.S. to form the core of the ROK’s political infrastructure for decades to come.  Park Chung-hee (later to become president of South Korea from 1961 to 1979) was one such former Japanese officer.[3]  However, in 1948, President Park sided with the Yeosu rebels, and was captured and sentenced to death.

 

23. On August 2, 1948, Hausman personally intervened with Syngman Rhee to save the life of future president Park Chung-hee.  Park had been an intelligence officer in the Japanese Army and sought to capture or kill Kim Il-Sung.  In 1948, although involved in the Yeosu Uprising, he turned on his former comrades.  His subordinate officer, Kim Jeong-sok, captured at the same time as Park, was executed.

 

24. For the next three decades, Hausman remained the most important U.S. military liaison in South Korea. 

 

25. In 1960, a popular movement overthrew Syngman Rhee, and a democratic government was established.

 

26. On May 16, 1961, General Park Chung-hee led a coup d’état and overthrew the democratic government.  The coup began at midnight on May 16, 1961, when the army moved into cities with force.  At 3:30 a.m. on May 17, 1961, Prime Minister Chang Myon telephoned U.S. Commanding General Magruder for US troops to put down the coup, but the U.S. refused the government’s request. 

 

27. James Hausman claimed to have had advance knowledge of the coup.[4]

 

28. Hausman was pleased when Park Chung-hee, his protégé, became military dictator of the ROK in 1961.  For his “efficiency” in “planning and execution of the suppression of Yeosu Uprising,” Hausman received the US Legion of Merit citation.

 

29. Twenty years after the coup, Hausman was honored by US military commander General John Wickham with a “Meritorious Civilian Service Award.”  The citation carried the following words: “Through his close personal relationship with President Park, he was able to persuade the military junta to take actions which eased the apprehensions of US officials, and his comprehensive understanding of the background and aspirations of newly emerged military leadership enabled him to convince US officials at a national level that under this leadership, the Republic of Korea would move forward in a manner that would enhance the United States position in Asia.”[5]  Remembering that Hausman had personally intervened with Rhee to save Park’s life in 1948, Park was indebted to him in 1961.

 

30. In June 1978, the CIA compiled a secret report that maintained: “The present government [under Park Chung-hee] is obsessed with acquiring a weapons system with which it can threaten P’yongyang…”[6] 

 

31. Later in October of 1978 U.S. CIA station chief Robert Brewster and U.S. Ambassador William Gleysteen met with Kim Jae-kyu.[7]  Ambassador Gleysteen, Richard Holbrooke and US cabinet officials raised human rights concerns with KCIA Director Kim Jae-kyu.[8]

 

32. On September 26, 1979 Ambassador Gleysteen and US CIA station chief Robert Brewster met with Kim Chae Kyu “in the midst of rising tension between Park and his many critics.”[9]

 

33. On October 4, 1979 Park expelled elected opposition leader Kim Young-sam from the National Assembly.  In response the U.S. embassy released a statement that “the United States publicly criticizes Park’s action against Kim Young-sam and recalls the ambassador for consultations.”[10]

 

34. In mid-October student and labor protests began in Busan and spread to nearby Masan.  On October 18, 1979 Martial Law was declared in Busan and tanks were deployed to put down the disturbances.  On October 20, 1979 Martial Law was declared in Masan

 

35. Also on October 18, 1979 Ambassador Gleysteen and US Secretary of Defense Harold Brown came from Washington and met President Park. “Brown cautioned Park about the costs of political repression.”  U.S. Military Commander General John A. Wickham, Jr. also attended this meeting.[11]

 

36. General Wickham dedicated his memoirs to James Hausman, “the architect of the Republic of Korea army,” who after his retirement from the military served as special assistant for policy and development to the Commander in Chief, United Nations Forces and ROK-US Combined Forces.[12]

 

37. In late October 1979, General Wickham asked Hausman about the situation.  He later wrote that Hausman was “on a first-name basis with virtually all of the senior ROK officers…and he could also be engaged when necessary to convey unvarnished views back to the Korean leaders.”[13]

 

38. Park ruled until October 26, 1979, when he was assassinated by his own KCIA Director, Kim Jae-kyu (a.k.a. Kim Chae Kyu).

 

39. On October 27, 1979 General Wickham and Ambassador Gleysteen met in the US embassy. Gleysteen said, “CIA station chief, Bob Brewster, had gathered enough knowledge to conclude that the plot had been hatched by the KCIA director.”  According to Wickham, Chun was “a longtime friend of Brewster’s.” [14]

 

40. Also on October 27, 1979, in a tense meeting, General Chun Doo-hwan took charge of an investigation into Park’s assassination. “He mentioned that his friend, Bob Brewster, the [U.S.] CIA station chief, had told him the United States would be increasing its presence in the region.”[15]

 

41. In late November 1979, Ambassador Gleysteen received a military intelligence report stating that Kim Chae Kyu alleged during his interrogation that “a former American ambassador” related to him that President Park “had been in power too long.”[16]

 

42. On December 12, 1979, General Chun Doo-hwan led a military coup.  Chun ordered the execution of Kim Jae-kyu after a secret tribunal convicted him, and on May 24, 1980 Kim Jae-kyu executed by hanging.

 

43. In 1981, Hausman received a medal of recognition for his years of service to the ROK from Chun Doo-hwan.  The same year Hausman was honored by General Wickham with a “Meritorious Civilian Service Award.” The citation carried the following words: “Through his close personal relationship with President Park, he was able to persuade the military junta to take actions which eased the apprehensions of US officials, and his comprehensive understanding of the background and aspirations of newly emerged military leadership enabled him to convince US officials at a national level that under this leadership, the Republic of Korea would move forward in a manner that would enhance the United States position in Asia.”[17]

 

44. There were widespread allegations that the US was involved in the Park assassination. Then U.S. Ambassador William Gleysteen spent a considerable part of his memoirs discussing these allegations.[18]  Mr. Gleysteen noted that “Many Koreans, and some Americans, suspected U.S. complicity in President Park’s death.  The most prevalent view was that U.S. criticism contributed significantly to his demise…in early November, I found Representative Clement Zablocki, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, transfixed by this issue…Despite firm reinforcement from [Cyrus] Vance [then U.S. Secretary of State], our senior intelligence representative, and others, Zablocki said, “I don’t believe it.”[19]

 

45. In 2011, Peter Hayes and Chung-in Moon reported in a South Korean daily newspaper, Hankyoreh, that ” It is worth noting here there is a “widespread rumor in South Korea that the [U.S.] CIA might have orchestrated his [Park’s] assassination on October 26, 1979, in order to stop his nuclear ambitions.”[20]

 

46. As a product of the widespread belief in U.S. and CIA involvement, several Korean novels depict US encouragement and even organization of the murder, as does one in English, the bestseller by Steve Shagan, The Circle (Bantam Books, 1982).