The United States and the Human Rights Violations of the South Korean Park Chung-Hee’s Regime, 1972–1979

Introduction. Human rights rhetoric is now an important part of the arsenal of American foreign policy. Many key features of Washington’s tactics of using this tool were formed during the Cold War era. At the same time, the rhetoric on human rights became highly selective. An interesting example of combining these principles is the U.S. policy toward the South Korean dictatorship of Park Chung-hee after the South Korean leadership began to shift its priorities from economic development to strengthening the country’s defense capabilities and authoritarian regime. The result of this process was the Yushin coup and the creation of the Fourth Republic of South Korea. Methods and Materials. The article uses classical research methods. The source base of the study is publications of diplomatic documents from American and materials from Russian archives. Analisys. The Americans recognized the effectiveness of the economic policy of President Park Chung-hee and his supporters, but could not ignore the authoritarian manifestations of the ruling regime. The U.S. noted that the incumbent president had been quite successful in overcoming opposition resistance and maintaining control over the country. However, de facto acquiescence to his domestic course put the U.S. on a par with one of the most odious dictatorships of its time, marked by numerous acts of human rights violations. Results. Washington’s attempts to reconcile its policy of supporting its Far Eastern ally with the idea of protecting human rights, the core of U.S. foreign policy strategy, yielded only temporary and fragmentary results. By the end of the 1970s, this line was becoming increasingly vulnerable to congressional criticism. This fact deprived the image of the United States as the leader of the “free world” of credibility and undermined the authority of the Carter administration.