North Korea–South Korea relations
In May 2017 Moon Jae-in was elected President of South Korea with a promise to return to the Sunshine Policy. In his New Year address for 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un proposed sending a delegation to the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea. The Seoul–Pyongyang hotline was reopened after almost two years. At the Winter Olympics, North and South Korea marched together in the opening ceremony and fielded a united women's ice hockey team. As well as the athletes, North Korea sent an unprecedented high-level delegation, headed by Kim Yo-jong, sister of Kim Jong-un, and President Kim Yong-nam, and including performers like the Samjiyon Orchestra. The delegation passed on an invitation to President Moon to visit North Korea. Following the Olympics, authorities of the two countries raised the possibility that they could host the 2021 Asian Winter Games together. On 1 April, South Korean K-pop stars performed a concert in Pyongyang entitled "Spring is Coming", which was attended by Kim Jong-un and his wife. Meanwhile, propaganda broadcasts stopped on both sides.
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee remains a controversial figure in South Korea. The eighteen-year Park era is considered to be one of the most, if not the most, controversial topics for the Korean public, politicians, and scholars both at home and abroad. A large number of South Koreans, especially those from Park's native Yeongnam region, consider Park to be one of the greatest leaders in the country's history and thus continue to hold Park in high regard in great part due to the industrial and economic growth experienced by South Korea under his regime. Park was accused of having pro-Japanese tendencies by some, but it is widely agreed that Park is responsible for the beginning of a normalized relationship with Japan and today Japan is one of South Korea's top trading partners, surpassed only by the People's Republic of China and the United States. He is often credited as being one of the major people responsible for bringing economic growth and development to South Korea. Park has been recognized and respected by many South Koreans as his country's most efficient leader, credited with making South Korea economically what it is today. However, Park is also regarded as a highly repressive dictator who restricted personal freedoms and was isolated from the people. At the very least, his actions put United States and South Korea foreign relations at risk, at least under Carter. Dissolving the constitution to allow him unopposed rule and a third term, blackmail, arresting, jailing and murdering opposition figures are well documented. The new constitution President Park implemented after declaring the state of emergency in 1971, gave him the power to appoint one third of the members of the National Assembly and even outlawed criticism of the constitution and of the president. There were also many economic feats established during Park's regime, including the Gyeongbu Expressway, POSCO, the famous Five-Year Plans of South Korea, and the New Community Movement.