U.S. Army Korea (Historical Image Archive)
Profiles in patiotism: Keun Park
Profiles in patiotism: Keun Park
By Jane Lee
jane.k.lee@korea.army.mil
YONGSAN GARRISON - Fighting communism. Serving five times as an Ambassador for the Republic of Korea, Keun Park summed up the very reason for dedicating his life to diplomacy, with those two simple words.
Park said it was fate for him to become a diplomat in a career that spanned the emerging democracy’s first five presidencies.
“In my dorm there were North Korean students who escaped from Soviet occupation and the communists … who came down, fled to South Korea and entered prep school at Seoul National University,” he said. “They were upstairs. One night I heard a beer bottle cracking and shattering while we were sleeping.
“We were scared. In the morning, we ran up and saw. I could not recognize them. Their faces were so swollen they could not open their eyes. They were so disfigured, you could not distinguish one from the other.”
Shocked by the violence, Park spurned law school or politics in lieu of trying to find an answer to communism.
“Because of my experience with Japanese rule … I had suffered enough from oppression and dictatorship,” he said. “Fate brought me to every important event, every confrontation with communism.
“The threat to Korea was not from North Korea alone. The Soviet Union shot down a civilian airliner - Korean Air flight 007. Beyond that, the Soviet Union, their goal was world domination and Korea was one of their stepping stones or obstacles to achieving that because of our geopolitical location.”
Throughout his 30 years of government service, Park remained a steadfast champion of the ROK-US Alliance; even amidst deep, divisive anti-American sentiment following the accidental killing of two young school girls during a U.S. Military training exercise and the mad cow beef scare.
“The very fact that the United States symbolizes freedom – this immutable human historical value - is why it is the strongest country in the world today,” he said. “And because of freedom, it is the most innovative, technologically advanced, morally, materially and politically superior country. And allying with that country is a miracle.
Park credits Syngman Rhee, Korea’s first president, for having the vision to accomplish the impossible. Overcoming the overbearing communist-friendly zeitgeist during the founding of the republic, Rhee made sure the United States and South Korea were tied together through a formal alliance.
“I think God blessed us. That is why Korea is ahead of all other developing countries today - because we were founded on democracy, capitalism and non-communist ideologies.”
Regarding anti-American demonstrators today: “We can put them in jail, put them down, oppress them … but that’s not strength, that’s weakness. It’s a freedom we have to value.”
“When I was young, I believed in freedom, democracy and individualism. I think if you believe in these values, you remain eternally young. I want young people to hold onto these values."
Profiles in patiotism: Keun Park
Profiles in patiotism: Keun Park
By Jane Lee
jane.k.lee@korea.army.mil
YONGSAN GARRISON - Fighting communism. Serving five times as an Ambassador for the Republic of Korea, Keun Park summed up the very reason for dedicating his life to diplomacy, with those two simple words.
Park said it was fate for him to become a diplomat in a career that spanned the emerging democracy’s first five presidencies.
“In my dorm there were North Korean students who escaped from Soviet occupation and the communists … who came down, fled to South Korea and entered prep school at Seoul National University,” he said. “They were upstairs. One night I heard a beer bottle cracking and shattering while we were sleeping.
“We were scared. In the morning, we ran up and saw. I could not recognize them. Their faces were so swollen they could not open their eyes. They were so disfigured, you could not distinguish one from the other.”
Shocked by the violence, Park spurned law school or politics in lieu of trying to find an answer to communism.
“Because of my experience with Japanese rule … I had suffered enough from oppression and dictatorship,” he said. “Fate brought me to every important event, every confrontation with communism.
“The threat to Korea was not from North Korea alone. The Soviet Union shot down a civilian airliner - Korean Air flight 007. Beyond that, the Soviet Union, their goal was world domination and Korea was one of their stepping stones or obstacles to achieving that because of our geopolitical location.”
Throughout his 30 years of government service, Park remained a steadfast champion of the ROK-US Alliance; even amidst deep, divisive anti-American sentiment following the accidental killing of two young school girls during a U.S. Military training exercise and the mad cow beef scare.
“The very fact that the United States symbolizes freedom – this immutable human historical value - is why it is the strongest country in the world today,” he said. “And because of freedom, it is the most innovative, technologically advanced, morally, materially and politically superior country. And allying with that country is a miracle.
Park credits Syngman Rhee, Korea’s first president, for having the vision to accomplish the impossible. Overcoming the overbearing communist-friendly zeitgeist during the founding of the republic, Rhee made sure the United States and South Korea were tied together through a formal alliance.
“I think God blessed us. That is why Korea is ahead of all other developing countries today - because we were founded on democracy, capitalism and non-communist ideologies.”
Regarding anti-American demonstrators today: “We can put them in jail, put them down, oppress them … but that’s not strength, that’s weakness. It’s a freedom we have to value.”
“When I was young, I believed in freedom, democracy and individualism. I think if you believe in these values, you remain eternally young. I want young people to hold onto these values."