Chang Do-yong


Chang Do-yong was a South Korean general, politician and professor who, as the Army Chief of Staff, played a decisive role in the May 16 coup and was the first chairman of the interim Supreme Council for National Reconstruction for a short time until his imprisonment.

Early life and education

Chang initially served in the Japanese imperial army during the Japanese occupation of Korea. He graduated from the history department of Toyo University, planning to become a teacher, but later served as an officer in China.

Career

Involvement in the May 16 coup

Chang first learned of the coup from Park Chung-hee on 10 April 1961, who wanted him to lead the new government so that the entire military would support it. He responded by neither joining the plotters nor notifying the government. This indecisiveness has been seen as giving legitimacy to the coup. In addition, Chang later convinced then-prime minister Chang Myon, that a security report containing leaked details of the coup was unreliable. This allowed the planners to postpone it to May 16.

Rise and decline

After the coup, Chang was appointed as a figurehead leader while Park held the real power. Soon afterwards, however, he formed a small faction of moderates, causing conflict with other more militarist officers, including Park. At his peak, Chang occupied four positions: chairman of the Supreme Council, prime minister defense minister, and army chief of staff. Through May 1961, he attempted to gain recognition of the new government from the United States, meeting with John F. Kennedy on 24 May and promising a transfer to civilian control by 15 August on 31 May. These moves quickly made him unpopular with the rest of the military leaders, who saw him as a threat to their power and the goals of the coup. In June, after winning the acceptance of the US, Park and his followers turned the tide against Chang by implementing laws to restrict his influence. On July 3, Chang, the ten MPs posted around him for security, and forty-four other officers were arrested on charges of conspiring to execute a countercoup. He surrendered without any resistance.

Exile and later years

Before his trial, Chang had already made it clear that he would flee to the United States, a move his persecutors didn't object to. After leaving in 1962, he completed his doctorate in political science at the University of Michigan. Chang claimed that he had visited South Korea in 1968 and met with Park as well as troops who participated in the Vietnam War. He joined Western Michigan University as an associate professor in 1971 and retired in 1993. By 2011, it was reported that he was suffering from dementia.

Works