South Korea's First Five Presidents Explained | Jihoon Suk

South Korea's first presidents are often remembered as either heroes or villains. But history is rarely that simple. Historian Jihoon Suk joins Korea Deconstructed to explore the country's first five leaders, the social and cultural times they inhabited, and how their legacies continue to shape Korea today.

Jihoon Suk is a historian and PhD candidate at Yonsei University specializing in modern Korean history. His research focuses on Korea's colonial period, particularly how film, radio, and recorded sound shaped Korean culture and ideas of tradition. He has worked with institutions including the Korean Film Archive, the National Museum of Contemporary Korean History, the Seoul Museum of History, and the National Gugak Center.

Find Jihoon and his work online Insta: https://www.instagram.com/idea0853

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jihoon.suk.1

This is his second time on the podcast. Find the first conversation here: https://youtu.be/fjIUd-PiMQI?si=Q6cZUu4oictfmlyb

Discussion Outline

0:00 Introduction

3:27 Syngman Rhee (이승만)

16:00 Francesca Donner

25:22 Park Chung-hee (박정희)

44:30 Yun Poson (윤보선)

51:20 Government Atrocities

54:30 Sasanggye and Chang Chun-ha

1:06:44 Choi Kyu-ha (최규하)

1:12:33 Chun Doo-hwan (전두환)

1:21:00 Purification of Society (사회정화)

1:25:43 Gwangju (광주)

1:33:50 History Deconstructed

A huge thanks to Patreon members: Bhavya, Roxanne Murrell, Sara B Cooper, Anne Brennels, Ell, Johnathan Filbert, Daniela Körppen, Cody Schuman, Christopher Futter, Andreas Wendtland. You are stars!!

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David A. Tizzard has a PhD in Korean Studies and lectures at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University. He writes a weekly column in the Korea Times, is a social-cultural commentator, and a musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. He can be reached at datizzard@swu.ac.kr.

▶ David's Insta: @datizzard

▶ KD Insta: @koreadeconstructed

These podcasts are recorded live in Seoul. Big thanks to the studio owner and my friend 한정철: https://www.instagram.com/the_story_from_you/