By GI Korea on November 3rd, 2010 at 1:00 pm

Picture of the Day: Gyeongbu Expressway Is 40 Years Old

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The Shingal Interchange as it appeared not long after the Gyeongbu Expressway opened.Provided by Korea Expressway Corp. Former President Park Chung Hee directs construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway. [JoongAng Ilbo

Via the Joong Ang Ilbo.

• Tom
  11:59 am on November 3rd, 2010 1

  Yes, this highway was built with the money given to Korea, by the US government, as a payment for Korea sending 350,000 combat troops to Vietnam from 1964 to 1973. Thank you Uncle Sam, for hiring Korean mercenaries to do your fightings against the North Vietnamese Communists.

  When Park Jung Hee began to build this way, the IMF objected and said the little dictator was wasting away precious national resources when they could be using the money to feed the poor starving Koreans. They said why does Korea need a highway when they don't even have cars? Thank god Park Jung Hee didn't listen to these know it all Western advices.

  Come to think of it, the highway wasn't the only things that the Westerners thought Korea had no chance of making it work. Same things were said when Korea went into making steel and ships. Western officials scoffed, what do Koreans know about making steel and ships? They stick to making shoes and clothes. And when Koreans went into semi conductors, the Japanese scoffed, they are wasting their time.

  If Korea had listened to all these Western doubters and fancy smart alec economists and advisors, Koreans would be in similar boat as their counterparts in the Philippines or Indonesia, making $2 bucks a day, assembling plastic toys.

• LG DACOM Stinks, Roy
  1:59 pm on November 3rd, 2010 2

  Tom, all of that is very true. Let's go dig a canal!

• Teadrinker
  3:07 pm on November 3rd, 2010 3

  Park Jung Hee was a giant.

• Cloying Odor
  8:43 pm on November 3rd, 2010 4

  It's the greatest parking lot ever built!!!!

• Jinro Dukkohbi
  12:56 am on November 4th, 2010 5

  Check your facts, Tom – while I won't deny Uncle Sam may have chipped in some funds for the Gyeongbu Expressway, I'm pretty sure the primary source of funding was a portion of the $550mil reparations payment from Japan…

• K
  2:20 am on November 4th, 2010 6

  Japan received a lot of economic aid from the US anyway. Without having had to fight anywhere for the US's sake, indeed… while being a formerly 'criminal' country, no less.

• Bruce
  7:39 am on November 5th, 2010 7

  I am impressed Tom. That is the closest you have come to posting something that had at least some facts, with out being total BS.

  Park Chung Hee was the perfect person for the job at the time. Korea needed someone that could turn Korea around, and he did it. I was actually in Seoul the day of the Coup D'etat when Gen Park took over.

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