. For a description of Chung by Gen. John A. Wickham, the commander of U.S. Forces
Korea at the time, see Wickham, Korea on the Brink, p. .
. Detailed discussions of these events are found in chapters and .
. For General Wickham’s account on this matter, see Korea on the Brink, pp. , –
. Ambassador Gleysteen does not make it clear whether or not he was aware of
the rumors prior to /. See Gleysteen, Massive Entanglement, p. .
. Wickham, Korea on the Brink, p. .
. Ibid., p. .
Chapter 6. The 12/12 Incident. General Choi was a Class KMA classmate and confidant of Chun Doo Hwan. He
was not involved directly in the / events but substantially profited from them.
Within two days he was promoted from deputy intelligence chief of the army (as-
sistant to G-) to the J- position, the senior military intelligence officer in Korea.
. For Wickham’s account of events in the Bunker, see Korea on the Brink, pp. –;
for Gleysteen’s perspective, see Massive Entanglement, pp. –.
. Wickham, Korea on the Brink, p. .
Chapter 7. Aftermath of 12/12. Itaewon, a section of Seoul located adjacent to the Yongsan army base, remains a
popular entertainment and shopping area for foreigners.
. Gleysteen, Massive Entanglement, pp. –.
. Gleysteen says that the meeting was “at my request.” Ibid., p. .
. The ambassador was held in high regard in Washington. Early in the year, Na-
tional Security Council staffer Nicholas Platt wrote to Brzezinski that, “since as-
suming his post in Seoul this summer [Gleysteen] has taken hold as one of our
strongest Ambassadors in Asia.” In particular Platt commended Gleysteen on his
handling of visiting members of Congress. See Platt to Brzezinski, Jan. , ,
Box , Country File, National Security Affairs, BM. Finessing American legisla-
tors, of course, was an entirely different matter than confronting an aspiring mili-
tary dictator on his own turf.
. Gleysteen, Massive Entanglement, pp. –. For a highly sanitized account of the
meeting, see Gleysteen to the Secretary of State, Dec. , , Box , Country
File, National Security Affairs, BM.
. See Mark L. Clifford, Troubled Tiger: Businessmen, Bureaucrats, and Generals in South
Korea (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, ), chaps. , .
. Wickham, Korea on the Brink, p. .
. On the case, see William Stueck, “Democratization in Korea: The United States
Role, and ,” International Journal of Korean Studies , no. (fall/winter,
): –.
. Wickham was approached by a more senior officer. See Wickham, Korea on the Brink,
pp. –. Apparently Gleysteen was not approached directly, but he was informed
of the plot(s). See Gleysteen, Massive Entanglement, pp. –.
Chapter 8. Prelude to Kwangju. See NYT, Feb. , , p. ; Mar. , , p. ; Mar. , , p. .
. Gleysteen, Massive Entanglement, pp. –. Gleysteen’s account is consistent with
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