SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 625 words
HEADLINE: Death Sentence Commuted To Life Imprisonment
BYLINE: By EDWIN WHITE, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
In an apparent attempt to improve the climate for his first meeting with President Reagan, South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan spared the life of Kim Dae-jung today an hour after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence given the leading opponent of the ruling military regime.
Chun, who meets with the new president in Washington Feb. 2, also will end martial law Saturday to provide a "free atmosphere" for next month's presidential election, informed sources said. Military rule has been in effect since the assassination of former President Park Chung-hee on Oct. 26, 1979.
Chun ordered the death sentence given Kim by a military court commuted to life imprisonment.
The Carter administration repeatedly warned that Kim's execution would have a very damaging impact on U.S.-Korean relations. Since Reagan's inauguration on Tuesday there has been a barrage of reports in the tightly-censored Korean press predicting a "new era" in U.S.-Korean ties, and the clemency for Kim was considered a significant move to accomplish that.
There was no immediate comment from the State Department. But the Japanese government, which had been just as vigorous in its opposition to the execution of Kim, expressed relief at Chun's action and said it could lead to the restoration of a "friendly posture" toward his government.
Kim, 55, was sentenced by a court-martial Sept. 17 to be hanged after he was found guilty of sedition and trying to overthrow the government. He was accused of organizing last May's nationwide protests against military rule that culminated in a nine-day uprising in his native Kwangju, in southwest Korea.
Kim denied the charges, and the government's claim that he was a "dedicated communist." He said he was a "liberal democrat, not a communist," and "if there were communist unification (of Korea), I would oppose it."
The Korean Cabinet, acting on the president's instructions, "concluded it is appropriate from the standpoint of national reconciliation to grant commutation to Kim Dae-jung and the others convicted in this case," said government spokesman Lee Kwang-pyo.
The Supreme Court also upheld sentences ranging from seven to 20 years imprisonment against the other 11 defendants in the sedition case, but Chun ordered those terms reduced to five to 15 years.
Kim's turbulent political career and fight for democracy in South Korea reached its high point in 1971 when he almost defeated the late President Park for the presidency in South Korea's last free election.
He left the country the next year for medical treatment abroad and remained in the United States and Japan campaigning against Park's government until Aug. 8, 1973, when he was kidnapped from his Tokyo hotel room and brought to Seoul. It was generally believed the Korean Central Intelligence Agency carried out the abduction.
In November 1975, Kim was sentenced to a year in prison on charges of election law violations. In March 1976, he and other leading foes of the regime issued a "manifesto for democracy" calling for Park's resignation and democratic reforms, and he was given another prison sentence.
Kim was released from prison in December 1978 but was put under house arrest. The house arrest was ended after Park was assassinated, Kim's political rights were restored, and he again became active in political opposition to the regime.
He was arrested again last May 17 after demonstrations in Seoul and other cities and the day before the Kwangju uprising, where nearly 200 people died when government forces stormed the city.
The court-martial verdict was upheld Nov. 3 by an army appellate court and confirmed the following day by Korea's martial law commander. The sentence then was appealed to the supreme court.