Park Chung-hee
Being a complex man as a policy maker, many Koreans continue to hold Pak in high regard in great part due to the industrial and economic growth experienced by South Korea under his presidency. But there are also many who condemn Pak for the brutality of his dictatorship and for his service to the Japanese army during World War II. Today, Pak's critics deplore the widespread human rights abuses in South Korea during his rule. However, his supporters argue that the human rights abuse accusation is mostly fabricated or exaggerated. One example of his many abuses was the kidnapping of opposition activist Kim Tae Jung. Around noon of August 8, 1973, Kim was attended a meeting with the leader of the Democratic Unification Party held in the Room 2212 of the Hotel Grand Palace in Tokyo. At around 13:19, Kim was abducted by a group of unidentified agents as he walked out of the room after the meeting. He was then taken into the empty Room 2210 where he was drugged and became unconscious. Later Kim was moved to Osaka and later to Seoul, South Korea. Kim was later quoted as saying that a weight had been attached to his feet aboard the boat heading toward Korea, indicating that the kidnappers had intended to drown Kim by throwing him into the sea. They were, however, forced to abandon this plan as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force began a pursuit of the kidnappers' boat. Subsequently, Kim was released in Busan. He was found alive at his house in Seoul five days after the kidnapping. According to some reports U.S. Ambassador Philip Habib intervened with the South Korean government to save Kim's life.