Seventeenth Commandant of the Marine Corps; member of the 14th and 15th National Assembly
| Life | 1934 ~ 2020 |
| Era | 대한민국 |
| Clan | 영해 박씨 |
Park Gu-il (8 November 1934 - 1 March 2020) was a South Korean soldier and politician, pen name Jeongam, seat Yeonghae, born in Andong, North Gyeongsang. After Andong schools he was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant as part of the 12th class of the Naval Academy in 1958, then studied at the National Defense College and the Korea University graduate school of business.
After serving as platoon, reconnaissance company, battalion, regiment, brigade and division commander, he was Deputy Chief of Naval Operations in 1986; when the Marine Corps Command was reinstated he became its first commandant, the 17th overall, and retired as lieutenant general in 1988. He is recorded as receiving the Inheon Military Merit Medal (1966) and several Order of Service Merit awards.
After retiring he chaired the Korea Fire Insurance Association and served in the 14th National Assembly (proportional, Democratic Liberal Party) and the 15th (Daegu Suseong-eul, United Liberal Democrats), holding posts such as secretary-general of the party and chair of committees on disaster relief and communications. Wikipedia adds a story popular among marine veterans that, as commander of the 7th Regiment during the Bu-Ma uprising, he told his troops not to lay hands on citizens, while noting that testimony of beatings in a truth commission report concerns another regiment, so views differ.
Commissioned in 1958, he was reconnaissance company commander (1962), military police battalion commander (1969), military police regiment commander (1976), 7th Regiment commander of the 1st Division (1979), 6th Brigade and 1st Division commander (1984), Marine commandant (1986) and retired as lieutenant general in 1988.
He served as head and secretary-general of the Unification New Democratic Party (1990-91) and sat in the 14th and 15th National Assembly, the latter for Daegu Suseong-eul.
Not confirmed.