What if Park Chung-hee had not been assassinated?

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Personally, if I were to apply an "if" to South Korean political history,
I think this is the subject that would yield the most possible scenarios.
Summarizing the situation at the time:
Having established a foundation for permanent dictatorship through the Yushin system (enactment of the Yushin Constitution, 1972),
he was already in his 8th year of that system,
and his 18th year as President Park Chung-hee.
At that time, even the US was under the Carter administration.
(For reference, one of Carter's nicknames was "Dictator Slayer"... he didn't actually kill them... but there was a strange rule/pattern where dictators who met him during that period or after his term often met an untimely end.)
There were various conflicts with the US as well.
Domestically, dissatisfaction with the dictatorship was growing, such as the Bu-Ma Democratic Protests,
and economic issues like the oil shock were overlapping,
causing public discontent to swell.
He tried to suppress it with the power of the intelligence agency as usual, but the Bu-Ma protests eventually erupted to the surface.
If we look at the possibilities from here:
1. What if Kim Jae-gyu's assassination attempt had failed?
- For example, if the gun miraculously missed, etc.
- There is a possibility that, along with a massive purge, the New Military Group led by Chun Doo-hwan would have taken Cha Ji-chul's position, further prolonging his rule.
Or, the possibility that Chun Doo-hwan would have eventually pushed Park Chung-hee aside to take power, etc.
- However, in either case, it seems highly likely that the Bu-Ma situation would have ended up like Gwangju in 1980.
2. What if Kim Jae-gyu had never even attempted the assassination?
- If he had just endured and continued to cling to power as usual,
- What would Park Chung-hee have done?
- Personally, I see the possibility of him stepping down voluntarily as zero (unless he died of natural causes).
- Additionally, would Cha Ji-chul and the Hanahoe (private military faction) have remained loyal?
- But even in this case, the fate of the Bu-Ma protests... would likely lead to a similar conclusion as scenario #1...
3. What about the United States?
- While it is true that the Korean economy grew during the "Three Lows" boom of the 1980s, fundamentally, it was based on being in sync with the US.
- What would have happened between the US and the Park Chung-hee government, with whom conflicts were deepening at the time?
- While it's difficult to make a simple comparison, there are many historical cases where the US replaced governments of countries that wouldn't listen (especially in South America...)
In conclusion:
1. Ultimately, depending on the variables of timing and circumstances, it would have been difficult for him to die of natural causes.
- Even if nothing major happened, eventually, whether it was the people or his own subordinates... (if not Kim Jae-gyu, wouldn't it have been Chun Doo-hwan?)
2. As a result, there is a high probability that Kim Jae-gyu actually saved the lives of the Bu-Ma protesters...
- In fact, in that scenario, the picture would have been Cha Ji-chul taking the fall while Chun Doo-hwan took Cha's position...
- Replacing the number two in power was one of Park Chung-hee's political specialties.
3. From the US perspective, the core issue seems to have been that, regardless of dictatorship or whatever, they needed someone who listened to them.
- There are many conspiracy theories regarding this, but they are just rumors without evidence.