Harsh Politics

Eliminating the opposition

Handcuffed and flanked by helmeted military policemen, South Korea's leading dissident Kim Dae Jung, 54, went on trial in Seoul last week on charges of trying to overthrow the government. Kim, once a leading candidate for his country's presidency, has been under arrest since last May. Dressed in a baggy white suit, with the number 201 stenciled on his tunic, he looked haggard and subdued as the 154-page indictment was read.

Kim's trial, which could last for several months, might result in a death sentence. His prosecution was clearly a key step in the effort by South Korea's strongman General Chun Du Hwan to eliminate the last traces of political opposition to his rule. Two days after the trial began, figurehead President Choi Kyu Hah resigned. His successor, Acting President Park Choong Hoon, called for elections to be held "as expeditiously as possible." General Chun clearly intends to simplify the choice for the voters. They will not be able to vote for Kim Dae Jung, who stands accused of raising money for the purpose of insurrection, with 23 of his campaign supporters named as accomplices. Another potential candidate, Kim Young Sam, leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, last week announced his resignation from politics.

Concerned that Chun's harsh repressive measures could set off the leftist revolt he fears, the U.S., Japan, West Germany and seven other nations barraged Seoul last week with diplomatic protests as Kim's trial got under way. The State Department branded the charges against him "farfetched" and called for a fair trial. In response, Seoul condemned the "intemperate statements of foreign government officials concerning the trial."

In fact, short of withdrawing its military support--a disastrous option that would lay South Korea open to invasion by the 600,000-man North Korean army --there is seemingly little that the U.S. can do to restrain Chun's ironfisted methods. Last week some 30,500 so-called hooligans and gangsters were arrested; most of them were shipped off to "rehabilitation camps." The crackdown followed large-scale dismissals in July of more than 8,000 state and federal employees on charges of corruption and inefficiency.

In private, many South Koreans deplore Chun's measures as "terror tactics." But a growing segment of the financially strapped business community appears willing to put up with him. Inflation has now passed 20%, unemployment is rising and many bankruptcies have occurred as foreign investment fell off in the wake of riots in Seoul and Kwangju earlier this year. Longing for the orderly economic growth they enjoyed under an earlier strongman, the late President Park Chung Hee, many industrialists are reluctant to concern themselves with the fates of Kim Dae Jung or other Chun targets.

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