Gen. Park Chung-Hee and South Korea's Han River Miracle - Hardcoverby Walter Jung (Author) Gen. Park Chung Hee was born to a poor family in rural Korea when Japan ruled the nation as a colony. After teaching at a rural elementary school for three years, he studied at three different military academies to become an army officer in the liberated Korea. Although he encountered a career threatening crisis right before the outbreak of the Korean War, he returned to the service and served many key staff positions during