Hm, okay. Anyway, does this mean you have a special preference for how future posts should be made?
Spit on my grave - a Republic of Korea TL
- Thread starter mlp
- Start date
Hm, okay. Anyway, does this mean you have a special preference for how future posts should be made?
After reading ChrisN's timelines for a long time, I realised a merit I found in his post styles. Due to its brevity, it is easier, much easier for the writer to post quickly and regularly!
Thus, I will establish the 11-rule until it deemed necessary to be breached: I will write 11 sentences at maximum.
I hope everyone is happy about this policy.
Thus, I will establish the 11-rule until it deemed necessary to be breached: I will write 11 sentences at maximum.
I hope everyone is happy about this policy.
After the attacker was subdued, high-profile individuals such as the President, his wife and the ministers present were all hauled into another room. The opening ceremony was adjourned for twenty minutes. There were sighs of relief in the little back room that, in the commotion, nobody was hurt. Chief Bodyguard Park, still with a bloodied arm, walked into the room and gave a short briefing: no civilian casualties occurred except his, and the attacker was shot in the abdomen twice. The President congratulated him heartily on his courage; after the audience was settled down, the dignitaries returned to the podium and the opening ceremony continued.
After the opening ceremony at the National Center Theater, the President rode a car to the Jonggak pavilion. Hundreds of Koreans were cheering and celebrating the glorious day; as the cameras rolled, Park walked up the steps and rung the great temple bells twelve times. The highlight of the ceremony, however, was not ringing the bells of the pavilion but was the inauguration of South Korea's first subway line. The 9th city in Asia(4th if counted by nation) to open a metro system and the first to do so in South Korea, Seoul had been planning for a metro system for years but had not the budget for it; however, under the leadership of Seoul's mayor Yang, a line that ran straight through the heart of Seoul was finally planned and funded with Japanese assistance. The opening ceremony was a celebration of this great feat. While the band played and the crowd cheered, the President shook hands with each of the dignitaries and key individuals in finishing the planning and construction of the metro line; after walking down the steps into the station, Yang, Park and others posed for a photo while cutting the ribbons at the entrance. This was a great day for Korea and Seoul. This was also a great day for Yang, for the President will not forget that this great achievement was done solely under the mayor's leadership.
The 'special relationship' mentioned in the article truly meant that South Korea and Japan were closer than any other two nations: when Korea needed technology, Japan provided; when Japan ran out of cement, South Korea provided. This political and economic relationship was one that was truly deep, intimate and 'special'. However, this 'special' relationship had been slowly disintegrating in recent years. With the attempted assassination of liberal party leader Kim Dae-jung in Japanese territory, the rise of the leftist movement within Japan, anti-Korean prejudice of the Japanese press and the recent arrest of Japanese citizens by the Korean police during the massive protest in January, the Japanese people were slowly feeling alienated from their Korean 'compatriots'. This has further led to the meltdown of several negotiation processes, including one upon the continental shelf south of Korea; the Japanese government was unnaturally slow in processing the signing of documents since the arrest of the Japanese mentioned. This situation was completely upturned and Korea came out on top due to the 'Moon Se-gwang Incident', as it would later be known in the press: a leftist Korean-Japanese, after having obtained a firearm from a local Japanese police station, attempting to assassinate the President during the 8.15 Liberation day ceremony. After Japanese government officials heard of the incident later that day, they shuddered at the thought of the assassination actually succeeding and how they were to deal with the international condemnation of passively allowing another nation crumble to chaos; only the most radical-left newspapers would spin the story as a tragic failure for the start of a Socialist revolution and the rest would decry the Japanese government for letting this to happen. The negotiations process for the continental shelf was thus brought to attention, as it was seen as an issue Japan could save face for by acting generously. Many were shocked when Korea refused Japan's offer to let the former have full control over the area and proposed a continual of the joint control program; the idea was that, with the recent events taken into consideration, Japan and Korea were now 'equal' and could restart their close relationship off on a clean slate. This incident, however, would be part of a large political ripple that would uproot contemporary Japanese politics in its effect of framing the current, LDP-dominated government as inept and corrupt. In one way or another, things were slowly going better for South Korea and the President.
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The events which unfurled themselves during early 1974 was nothing like anything South Korea had seen for a long time. After the declaration of the Yushin Republic, many remained cautious, unsure of what this new institution was for, what it was to do and how they were to react to it. The fog lifted and the people of Korea were able to see clearly at the new government when, on August 8 1973, opposition leader Kim Dae-jung was kidnaped and almost killed while in Japan. The reports were unclear, but what was clear was that the new government did not like opposition at all and was willing to go far extents for it; although this incident was caused by 'excessive loyalty'(과잉충성) of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, the government and especially President Park Chung-hee was seen as turning towards totalitarianism for complete control over South Korea. The reaction to this incident was tremendous: anti-governmental rallies began to sprout up everywhere from October that year, and reached record heights by the spring of next year; students, religious leaders and opposition party leaders alike conjoined to go on a strike, refusing to study and attend school. One of the organisations behind this general movement was the National Democratic Youth Student Pan-Alliance(Chun-guk Min-ju Hak-nyon Chong-yonmaeng, abbreviated as 'Min-Chong-Hak-Ryon'). Blind in the anti-communist ideology of the times, the KCIA viewed this organisation as funded by the North Korean regime to rekindle the 'People's Revolutionary Party', a fictitious organisation founded to work as a Fifth Column against the South Korean government. The President, believing their word, ordered all those related to the MCHR arrested and tried in court; he also ordered Presidential Emergency Measure No. 4, which proclaimed that all those related to the MCHR can be arrested without a warrant and will be tried in court with minimum sentence of five years. By June the trial was divided into 3 compartments: the leaders of the MCHR; persons related to reviving the PRP; and the Japanese involved in the case. Along with illegally attempting capture and assassination of a Korean national in Japanese territory, the Japanese government was deeply aggravated when the two Japanese civilians were arrested due to the Emergency Measure. By late August the President announced Emergency Measure No. 5, which kept all three parties on trial; by 1975 the Japanese were sentenced to 20 years in prison: a sign which the Japanese noted as a statement that, while diplomatic blunders such as the attempted assassination by Korean-Japanese Moon will be excused, actions infringing upon the sovereignty of the South Korean government will not be tolerated. With the boundaries of friendship now clear, Korea and Japan drew closer again towards each other; for the Korean people, this political and ideological nightmare was to end only when communist regimes nearby would be toppled - a futile dream, as the opposite would happen nearby very soon.
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It has been several years since the President has heard of Park Tongsun; seeing his possibilities to be quite significant, Tongsun was granted monopoly over lobbying for US rice exports to Korea to fund his "solicitation schemes". During an evening meeting after the ceremonies, his name was brought up again.
"Mr. President, Park Tongsun seems to be able to gain more sway than ever over the US Capitol and elsewhere; it is possible that we would soon even be able to sway votes within Congress." The President, however, thought otherwise: "The recent Watergate scandal in America shows an aspect that we were not fully aware of before. If the allegations are true and such political schemes and corruption is a very big issue in the US, then we would need to be more careful. It is even possible that the current conservative party in power lose to the liberals - and when the new administration catches wind of our plans, I fear how they would react to such things. Tell Park - also, tell the crazy Moon - to become more subtle in their actions, or there will be consequences from us. Also, tell Moon to focus on the American press; if he's so interested in politics in the US, he should start with the eyes and ears of the American people…"
The meeting went on, about new economic plans and diplomacy with Japan; but, in retrospect, this seemingly whimsical conclusion would be one of the most significant decisions made by the President during this decade under his rule.
Park Tongsun, Korean lobbyist and founder of the George Town Club.
On August 22nd 1974, Congressman Kim Young Sam sat on the shoulders of his friends, flushed in both cheeks, basking in glory after his successful election as head of the New People's Party(Sinmindang). The future did not look so bright, however. With the President controlling more than half of parliament already, there wasn't much an opposition party can do. But Kim was ready. He would temper the storm, however long as it may be. After the near death of the NPP from the dissolved parliament a few years ago, Kim set his priorities anew. Survival of his party was now the supreme goal. The new world that was to come after the fall of this dictatorship would need the NPP, and until then perhaps even cooperation with the DRP(Democratic Republican Party, Korea's ruling party) would be considered. All in all, he could wait.
Yet it was to be a long decade for Kim.
The Self-Unification People's Congress, 1972-1980.
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TBC, or the Tongyang Broadcast Company, was owned by the Samsung Group. It was one of the most lucrative branch in the corporation, and the most popular television and radio broadcast corporation in South Korea. The two other main competitors - KBS and MBC - were either government-sponsored or underfunded, and thus were incomparable in size or fame to the TBC. Most foreign films or television programs, if aired domestically, was through the TBC. The rising star of this corporation was son of Lee Byong-chul CEO of the Samsung group, Lee Kun-hui. Young, ambitious and enthusiastic, he was no less an entrepreneur and businessman in any measure than his father. His business ethic of modernity, transparency and competency will serve as an entrepreneurial model for decades to come.
Headquarters of the TBC.
Did you know OTL Samsung turned to electronics because TBC was liquidated?
That's a really big butterfly!
I really don't know that!Did you know OTL Samsung turned to electronics because TBC was liquidated?
That's a really big butterfly!
I'm using a Samsung tablet right now, so maybe in ATL, some other Korean company will assume Samsung's OTL role as electronic giant.I really don't know that!
I'm thinking LG or Tongyang as possible candidates.
Electronics itself was not introduced by corporations, it was forced upon specific corporations(i.e. Samsung OTL) by the government for them to work on it.
I chose LG/Tongyang because both are pretty big firms and, in getting to the electronics market, both were pretty much in equal step(although LG would be slightly faster due to their experience in producing television). Both were mainly in the construction industry and the government needed someone to invest in the advanced manufacture sector. This did not count for Hyundai(the biggest conglomerate in Korea until 1997), on the other hand, as they were developed in the heavy machinery, similar to Mitsubishi.
Also, Tongyang is a pretty cool name.
Since you did ask specifically about Tongyang, I should mention that were until now just a large cement corporation.