BOX 2, FILE 1 – CHEROKEE FILES 1979 to 1980
This file contains important State Department documents, mostly written Ambassador Gleysteen, about the events leading up to and preceding the October 26, 1979, assassination of Park Chung Hee, as well as the events surrounding coup within the military on December 12, 1979. They are significant because they show, in great detail, how the Carter administration and Ambassador Gleysteen carried out a campaign throughout these crucial months to preserve the basic structure of the South Korean government (which was favorable to American interests), persuade the military to loosen their grip on Korean society, and pressure the democratic opposition to moderate their demands for a quick return to full democracy. I analyzed these documents extensively in my 1996 series of articles in Sisa Journal. These cables should be read along with the Sisa articles.
9/26/1979 – This document describes a meeting between Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Tong-Jin, who was a key contact for the US government within the Park Chung Hee administration.
9/27/1979 – Secretary of State Cyrus Vance meets with Park Tong-Jin. This cable is heavily blacked out.
10/28/1979 – Gleysteen’s initial report on the Park assassination. He says “we still don’t know if this was a coup,” and counsels the US to “avoid critical comment.”
10/28/1979 – Gleysteen’s “initial reflections” on South Korea after Park’s assassination.
*11/21/1979 – Gleysteen, with Holbrooke’s help, persuades the US House (Congress) to avoid public hearings about the Park assassination.
11/28/1979 – Gleysteen meets with Foreign Minister Park.
11/29/1979 – Gleysteen assessment on South Korea one month after the Park assassination.
*12/7/1979 – Gleysteen responds to a suggestion from Richard Holbrooke to deliver a stern warning to Christian groups that they could lose US support if they don’t moderate their demands. This could cause “lots of trouble,” Gleysteen says. In the cable, he makes many references to Korean “extremists” in the Christian community.
*12/13/1979 – Gleysteen, after watching the 12/12 military operation take place while holed up in a US military command center, calls the action “A coup in all but name,” and describes how Lt. Gen. Chun Doo Hwan “totally ignored Combined Forces Command’s responsibilities.”
12/14/1979 – Gleysteen says his term “coup” is inappropriate because “the existing government structure is in place.”
12/18/1979 – Gleysteen meets with Prime Minister Shin Hyon Hwack, discusses 12/12 incident and warns of South Korea’s survival if foreign banks and corporations are scared away by the splits within the Korean military and the breakdown of the military chain of command.
*12/27/1979 – A key document. This is a “back-channel” [secret] message from General Wickham to Minister of Defense Choo about the 12/12 coup.
12/31/1979 – Gleysteen’s second look at the 12/12 coup.
4/16/1980 – Foreign Minister Park meets with Secretary of State Vance. Much of the meeting concerns the US crisis with Iran, where students loyal to the Iranian revolution had recently seized the US Embassy in Teheran. Park tells Vance that South Korea was getting 12% of its oil from Iran.
Use links below to view documents in PDF format:
- Assistant Secretary Holbrooke’s Bilateral with ROK Foreign Minister Park | September 26, 1979
- Korean US Bilateral at UNGA | September 27, 1979
- Initial Reflections on Post-Park Chung Hee Situation in Korea | October 28, 1979
- Korea Focus | Congressman Wolff | November 21, 1979
- Korea Focus | Meeting with Foreign Minister Park | November 28, 1979
- Ambassador’s Political Assessment One Month After Park Assassination | November 29, 1979
- Korea Focus | Nudging ROK Political Leaders | December 7, 1979
- Younger ROK Officers Grab Power Positions | December 13, 1979
- Need for Care in Characterizing December 12 Incident | December 14, 1979
- Korea Focus | My Meeting with Prime Minister | December 18, 1979
- CINC CDC Memo Concerning Operational Control of Forces | December 27, 1979
- Second Look at December 12 Incident | December 31, 1979
- ROK Foreign Minister Park’s Meeting with the Secretary | General Issues & Iran | April 16, 1980
