Morsels from "The Troubled Tiger"

I knew that Park Chung Hee's wife was assasinated on the Korea liberation day. But I had no idea that it's also the day the first subway line opened in Seoul, according to "The Troubled Tiger," by Mark Clifford --- a day of monumental infrastructural achievement countered by an event that probably triggered Park's eventual downfall.
Park was never the same after his wife passed, which turned the already introverted dictator even more inward. He openly sobbed when he met opposition leader Kim Young Sam and compared the presidential palace to an empty Buddhist monastery.
Another interesting tidbit: Everyone knows Park famously finished the speech he was delivering when his wife was shot. The book reports that Park, on his way off the stage, noticed his wife's purse and belongings and retrieved them as he walked off and his wife was rushed to the hospital. It's details like these that separate readable books from textbooks.
- Roger in DC