When Park Chung-hee and the US Ambassador visited Gayang-dong for Farming Encouragement Day

For over a decade I've done tours for the RAS of western Seoul, particularly the area around Gaehwasan and Gungsan / Yangcheon Hyanggyo. I was visiting the area with friends on the weekend and walked by a section of street (across from the Botanical Garden in Magok) with posts marking the sights of the 'history and culture street' that had a stone monument I'd never seen (Kakao Map street view tells me it wasn't there a year ago). I had no idea what 권농일 was and we were on the move, so I snapped a photo to look it up later.

As it turns out, it's a monument to the 17th National Farming Encouragement Day (권농일), when in 1965 Park Chung-hee (and others, as we'll see below) held a commemorative ceremony at Yangcheon Elementary School. This school was established in 1900, which makes it rather old (I was made aware of this when I taught a student who attended the school in 2005, and she told me it was her school's 105th anniversary). Since the president was there, I figured it must have been covered in the news, and indeed, the June 10, 1965 Kyunghyang Shinmun even has a photo of Park planting rice:

Industrialization Must Be Preceded by Agricultural Modernization – Emphasized in President Park’s Address

On the Occasion of the 17th National Farming Encouragement Day

June 10 marked the 17th National Farming Encouragement Day (권농일), and with a severe drought — the worst in 60 years — both farmers and city dwellers met the day with uncharacteristically somber expressions.

The Meteorological Office forecasted that it was unlikely to rain before the end of June, when rice transplanting would be at its peak. Authorities responded by establishing emergency drought countermeasures, aiming to uphold the significance of this year’s Farming Encouragement Day.

At 10 a.m. that day, a commemorative ceremony for the 17th Farming Encouragement Day was held at Yangcheon Elementary School along the Yeongdeungpo–Gimpo road, with many domestic and foreign dignitaries in attendance. These included President Park Chung Hee, Chairman Kwon of the National Assembly’s Agriculture and Forestry Committee, Minister of Agriculture Cha; other government ministers, U.S. Ambassador Brown; and members of the diplomatic corps.

Following a commemorative speech by Mr. Go, president of the National Agricultural Federation, President Park delivered an address in which he emphasized that “Farming Encouragement Day must not be limited to merely encouraging agriculture, but should become a new opportunity for the entire nation to revere agriculture and value farmers.”

He further stated, “We must abandon the dangerous mindset that national modernization refers only to urban-centered industrialization. The modernization of agricultural production, which can resolve the rice problem, must be achieved before industrialization.”

After the ceremony, the three branches of government and the diplomatic corps participated in a symbolic rice planting with the farmers.

◇After the Farming Encouragement Day Ceremony, President Park and other guests are planting rice seedlings. (In Gimpo)

I was surprised to learn the American ambassador was there. Unlike the photo caption above, the Dong-A Ilbo that day reported that the planting took place near the school (perhaps the Kyunghyang Shinmun had forgotten the area - formerly part of Gimpo - had been incorporated into Seoul in 1963):

Commemorative Rice Planting by President Park in Gayang-dong, Yeongdeungpo

On the morning of June 10, at 10 a.m., the 17th National Farming Encouragement Day commemorative event was held in Gayang-dong, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul. The ceremony took place in the schoolyard of Yangcheon Elementary School and was attended by about 200 people, including President Park Chung Hee, government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Seoul city government.

In his commemorative address, President Park said, “The Meteorological Office has forecast no rain for the next month, so we must anticipate continued drought through mid-July. Let the entire nation unite to overcome this drought together.”

Following the ceremony, President Park personally participated in a commemorative rice planting in a paddy field in front of the school, setting an example through action.

The event, hosted by the Land Improvement Association, was carried out under tight security unlike previous years, and as a result, local farmers were not permitted to participate in the event.

I have doubts that photo was taken that day, considering the security precautions. Why there was "tight security," I'm not sure, but the signing of the controversial ROK-Japan Normalization Treaty was less than two weeks away (June 22), so that may have been the reason.