Park Chung-hee served as the third president of South Korea from 1963 until he was assassinated in 1979 by the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency ( KCIA ) . Park had been a controversial political figure in Korea . During Park 's presidency , he had sustained the rapid economic growth in South Korea which people often refer to as the Miracle on the Han River . On the other hand , he had been an authoritarian dictator who oppressed opposition parties and civil liberties
assassinated
Assassination of Park Chung-hee
Hereditary politicians