⁄ • of course, but we did feel that there was only minimal danger and that the
most important thing at this time was to avoid panic. There were several
questions following my short briefing, and the group seemed satisfied and
calmed when I left for my residence.
At home I had another briefing to perform. My wife had been awake all
night, for the telephone had been ringing constantly. Most of the calls were
from Korean friends, many of them military officers but also some civilians.
The Japanese attaché had also called. My wife was calm but tired. Like ev-
eryone else she was eager to learn what had happened. I told her, and like a
good army wife, she accepted the situation calmly and without much emo-
tion, remarking dryly that she wished “they would conduct future coups
during normal duty hours!” She then went to bed, and I began to return
several of the calls, including the one from the Japanese attaché. He wanted
to see me as soon as possible, and we agreed to meet at my residence later
that morning.
A few minutes later the telephone rang once more. This time the call was
from a Korean officer assigned to the th Division, commanded by Maj. Gen.
Roh Tae Woo. This officer asked to see me on an urgent basis, and I immedi-
ately sensed that he was making the request under instruction. Since the
th Division was one of those that had moved Combined Forces Command
units without notification the night before, this was an opportunity to gain
some additional insight into the situation, and I agreed to meet this officer
the same day.
Another call was from the chief of the ROK Army Foreign Liaison Office
(FLO). The purpose of this organization was to manage and control the ac-
tivities of the foreign military attachés assigned to Korea. The FLO also was
supposed to schedule events and keep us informed concerning military
matters. In this case, however, the roles were reversed since it was the FLO
seeking the information. Whether this was an attempt to determine how
the U.S. Embassy was interpreting the / events or if the officer was truly
confused and trying to determine what had happened for his own knowl-
edge was uncertain. I suspect it was the latter since only a small group of
the army had been involved in /. The rest, like us, were trying to learn
what had happened. Anyhow, I relayed the facts as we knew them and also
told him he would probably be getting a new boss very soon. That was in-
deed the case—the following week his boss, the army chief of intelligence
and a Class member, was replaced. He retired soon afterward; the FLO
gained a promotion.