• pendently. The embassy sections with which I worked the closest were the
Special Assistant’s Office, the Political Section, and occasionally certain el-
ements of the large USFK headquarters at Yongsan.
I occasionally saw Gen. John W. Vessey, the Central Forces Command–
USFK commander, but was not a member of his staff, and thus most of my
dealings were with his intelligence office, or J- section. William Clark, the
embassy political counselor, was a professional diplomat and a solid if some-
what cautious operator who spent most of his time trying to sort out the
complex political situation. He had no military experience and only a su-
perficial knowledge of the ROK military. My immediate boss was Col. Don
Blottie, who had no previous experience in Korea. He had been given the
job as defense attaché in Seoul as a reward for his effective service as army
attaché in Pakistan. Colonel Blottie was a fine gentleman and a very com-
petent officer for whom I have always had much respect, but he was a little
out of his element, with no language capability and no real training as a
Korea specialist. The strongest of the senior embassy staff, in my opinion,
was Bob Brewster, the special assistant to the ambassador. Brewster was a
first-class gentleman and intelligence professional (CIA) who had experience
all over the world. He had an excellent reputation in Washington, was well
liked by the Koreans with whom he came in contact, and was admired and
respected by his own staff. Ambassador William H. Gleysteen placed great
faith in the capabilities and judgment of Brewster, who was to play a criti-
cal role in future events.
Because of the important part that the armed services played in South
Korean politics at that time, Brewster had a keen interest in that nation’s
military affairs. He met with senior officers often, and we quickly developed
a close personal and professional relationship. We traded information fre-
quently and attended each other’s social functions. Brewster’s deputy for
operational matters was a former U.S. Army Special Forces lieutenant colo-
nel, who was also extremely competent. We became good friends and played
golf together almost every weekend. By the summer of , when the South
Korean domestic situation began to deteriorate, we had solidified a relation-
ship that allowed us to work closely together with mutual trust and personal
compatibility.
Early Reporting on Chun Doo Hwan, Et Al.One of the areas of mutual interest between the Defense Attaché Office and
the Special Assistant’s Office was in identifying and building information