Greetings from the Chairman
Welcome to the Park Chung Hee Presidential Library and Museum where visitors can explore and learn about the extraordinary life and times of a farmer’s son who became President of Korea and led its economic and social transformation from a poor war-torn country into an industrialized nation.
As Chairman of the President Park Chung Hee Memorial Foundation, it is a true honor and privilege to be given the task of preserving and presenting President Park’s life story and the ideals he championed. We hope to keep President Park’s legacy alive by engaging and informing audiences of all ages and nationalities and to inspire future generations with his ideals and values of self-reliance, sacrifice, and national pride. As fewer and fewer people have personal memories or experience of the Park Chung Hee era, we must redouble our efforts to address misconceptions and accurately understand the context surrounding his time as president to truly appreciate the man behind the presidency and his lasting impact. It was during the height of the Cold War, with the Republic of Korea’s very survival at stake, that President Park emerged as a defender of liberal democracy against what was a much stronger communist regime in the north, eventually achieving a stunning reversal of the two Koreas’ fortunes through an all-out endeavor to build a modern industrial nation.
Our vision is to create a world-class center of research and study and become a trusted and authoritative source of knowledge about not only President Park but also Korea’s modern history and its place in the world. To this end, one of our main goals is to broaden and diversify our audience in Korea and beyond by growing and developing our research and educational programs. Our programs will seek to better understand not just President Park and his administration but also a transformative time in Korean and international history. Recognizing the importance of learning about Korea’s past to shape the future, we aim to provide opportunities to educate and inspire younger generations and to bring together scholars, students, and practitioners to discuss and address issues that impact us all today regardless of political considerations. As part of our efforts to grow our audience base, we are also working to engage and collaborate with the international community both in Korea and abroad.
On behalf of our management and staff, I would like to extend a warm invitation to visitors to the library and museum. We hope you will enjoy the exhibits and benefit from the library’s extensive archives and collections as a source of research. We look forward to seeing you soon and being part of our efforts to preserve and advance the life, times, and legacy of President Park.
Thank you.