Park Gi-byeong

Park Gi-byeong (朴基丙, June 12, 1917 – June 17, 1993) was a South Korean soldier and politician.

Biography

Life

He was born in Gyeongseong, and after spending his early childhood in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan, and briefly in Tokyo, Japan, together with his immediate family, he returned to Gyeongseong, Joseon, under Japanese colonial rule in 1920. He later left Keijo Imperial University in its philosophy department, then left Kenkoku University in Manchukuo (the Zhengguo University) in its political science department, and then left Waseda University in Japan in its law department, completing a student years marked by wandering. In 1938 he enlisted as one of the first generation of Korean volunteer soldiers in the Kwantung Army of the Imperial Japanese Army. He then witnessed Japan's defeat while serving as a warrant officer, after which he entered work related to the US Army Military Government in Korea. On January 6, 1946, he entered the first class of the Military English School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the army. Among his classmates at the Military English School were retired lieutenant general Ham Byeong-seon and other retired army generals such as Min Byeong-gwon, Lee Han-lim, and Min Ki-sik, all of whom later became his direct superiors.

In 1955 he was appointed commander of the 15th Division of the Republic of Korea Army and promoted to major general at the same time. From then on, he served as commander of the 2nd Division of the Republic of Korea Army from 1957 to 1958. On February 15, 1959, he was appointed commander of the 5th Training Center of the Republic of Korea Army in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, and on February 22, 1960, he was appointed commander of the 5th Military District of the Republic of Korea Army. During that period he witnessed the March 15 and April 19 events, and a year later, while still serving as commander of the 5th Military District, he witnessed the May 16 military coup in 1961. At the time, he opposed the military's political intervention together with his direct superior, Lieutenant General Lee Han-lim (李翰林), commander of the 1st Army, and stood in opposition to the military coup leadership of (朴正熙). However, he was ultimately suppressed by the coup forces, lost his post as commander of the 5th Military District, and was then forcibly discharged on August 24, 1961, together with Lee Han-lim, commander of the 1st Army, and Lieutenant General Lee Han-lim, and retired from the army as a major general.