SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 377 words
HEADLINE: Opposition Leader Names Former President As Involved In Bloody Revolt
BYLINE: BY M.H. AHN, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Opposition leader Kim Dae-jung today said ex-President Chun Doo-hwan was involved in crushing the bloody 1980 revolt in the southern city of Kwangju.
Kim demanded that Chun be investigated in connection with the nine-day Kwangju uprising, but said he opposes bringing him to trial.
"Mr. Chun Doo-hwan was one of those deeply involved in the Kwangju incident," Kim told reporters. "There should be no sanctuary in our efforts to disclose all truth."
At least 191 people were killed and more than 800 injured in the uprising, by official count. Dissidents say the toll was much higher.
Kim, whose Party for Peace and Democracy emerged as the largest opposition force in the April 26 elections for a National Assembly, previously has called for an investigation of the revolt. But tis was the first time that he named Chun as a central figure.
President Roh Tae-woo's governing Democratic Justice Party has said it would object to any parliamentary investigation of Chun and his family.
At the time of the uprising, Chun was a general leading other military officers who seized power after a coup. Most of them later retired to take on key political posts, and Chun became president.
Roh, then an army general, helped Chun seize power with military backing in 1980. Kim did not name Roh in the Kwangju case.
Kim, 62, said he was arrested one day before the uprising began on May 18, 1980. A military court found Kim guilty and sentenced him to death on what he called doctored sedition charges.
Kim's sentence was later reduced to life and then to a 20-year term. Under pressure from Washington, Kim was later allowed to go to the United States for medical treatment.
Kim said a parliamentary investigative team should look into all aspects of the Kwangju uprising, including the exact number of casualties, who ordered troops to open fire and any U.S. role in it.
Kim took the political offensive as Roh's government was being reorganized after last month's elections, which left the nation's governing party without a parliamentary majority for the first time in South Korea's 40-year history.
Roh said he "humbly" accepted the election setback, promised to work with the opposition and reshuffled the top security-related government posts.
Document 701
Copyright 1988 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
MAY 12, 1988, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 1847 words
DATELINE: TOKYO, MAY 12
BODY:
-- CABINET MINISTER SEISUKE OKUNO SAID HE WILL RESCIND A STATEMENT ON JAPAN'S WARTIME ACTION WHICH HAS OFFENDED CHINA.
-- JAPAN SOCIALIST PARTY LEADER TAKAKO DOI CALLED FOR THE RESIGNATION OF NATIONAL LAND AGENCY DIRECTOR GENERAL SEISUKE OKUNO FOR HIS RECENT CONTROVERSIAL DEFENSE OF JAPANESE ACTIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR II.
-- JSP CHAIRWOMAN DOI RETURNED FROM A NINE-DAY VISIT TO THE SOVIET UNION.
-- NORTH KOREA'S OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER RODONG SINMUN SLAMMED REMARKS MADE BY JAPANESE CABINET MINISTER SEISUKE OKUNO IN FAVOR OF JAPANESE WARTIME ACTIVITIES AND SAID THE REMARKS REFLECTED THE "MILITARIST ZEALOTS" IN THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT.
-- A ONE-TIME HIJACKER SUSPECTED OF BEING ON A FRESH TERRORIST MISSION, APPARENTLY TRAVELED TO NORTH KOREA AFTER SNEAKING BACK TO JAPAN UNDER AN ASSUMED IDENTITY, ACCORDING TO NOTES PUBLISHED BY THE TERRORISTS.
-- JAPANESE CONSUMERS NOW WANT TO BE ABLE TO BUY FOREIGN RICE, A SURVEY BY THE HOUSEWIVES FEDERATION FOUND.
-- U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WILLIAM TAFT TOLD JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER SOUSUKE UNO IN TOKYO THAT JAPAN SHOULD UPGRADE ITS DEFENSE EFFORTS.
-- SOUTH KOREA HAS AGREED TO EASE IMPORT RESTRAINTS ON SEVEN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN RESPONSE TO A U.S. REQUEST THAT THE COUNTRY CUT ITS TRADE SURPLUS WITH THE UNITED STATES, U.S. TRADE OFFICIALS SAID.
-- KIM YOUNG SAM WAS REELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION PARTY, THE REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
-- PRICES OF CRUDE OIL IMPORTED INTO JAPAN ARE RISING, INDUSTRY SOURCES SAID.
-- POTENTIALLY HARMFUL SUBSTANCE, ODP, HAS BEEN DETECTED IN IMPORTED CHILLED BEEF, A HYGIENE EXPERT SAID.
-- JAPANESE BEVERAGE MAKER POKKA CORP. PLANS TO PRODUCE ORANGE JUICE IN CALIFORNIA AND EXPORT IT TO JAPAN.
-- KUMAM CORP., A U.S. SUBSIDIARY OF KUMAGAI GUMI CO., SAID ITS TENDER FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A DRAINAGE SYSTEM IN SAN FRANCISCO HAS BEEN CANCELED.
-- JAPANESE INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS PURCHASED AN ESTIMATED 35-40 PERCENT OF 10-YEAR U.S. TREASURY NOTES AUCTIONED WEDNESDAY, MARKET SOURCES SAID.
-- THE FINANCE MINISTRY NOTIFIE BANKS AND BROKERAGES IT IS AUCTIONING PRIVILEGES TO UNDERWRITE FOUR-YEAR INTEREST-BEARING GOVERNMENT NOTES.
-- OVER-THE-COUNTER TRANSACTIONS IN CORPORATE AND PUBLIC BONDS TOTALED 26.44 TRILLION YEN LAST WEEK, DOWN SHARPLY FROM THE PRECEDING WEEK, THE JAPAN SECURITIES DEALERS ASSOCIATION SAID.
-- THE LEADER OF A GROUP OF CHINESE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, WHO ARE IN TOKYO TO VISIT VICTIMS AND EXPRESS CONDOLENCES TO FAMILIES OF A JAPANESE TEACHER AND STUDENTS KILLED IN A MARCH 24 TRAIN CRASH NEAR SHANGHAI, SAID THE CHINESE WILL DEAL WITH THE ISSUE OF COMPENSATION "WHOLEHEARTEDLY."
-- PAKISTAN IS CONSIDERING SERIOUSLY THE POSSIBILITY OF STARTING FUTURES TRADING IN COTTON, COMMERCE MINISTER MAHBOOB UL-HAQ SAID IN ISLAMABAD.
-- ACER INC., TAIWAN'S LARGEST COMPUTER MAKER, WILL ENTER THE JAPANESE PERSONAL COMPUTER MARKET FROM WEDNESDAY.
-- EIGHTY PERCENT OF FATAL HEART ATTACKS SUFFERED BY STUDENTS OCCUR DURING SCHOOL EXERCISE ACTIVITIES, ICHIRO NIIMURA, A LECTURER AT YOKOHAMA MUNICIPAL UNIVERSITY SAID.
-- MAJOR U.S. ELECTRONICS FIRMS WILL SHOW THEIR PRODUCTS AT AN EXHIBITION TO BE HELD IN FUKUOKA, MAY 17-18, ACCORDING TO THE U.S. EMBASSY.
-- JAPAN SHOULD SHOULDER OF THE BURDEN TO PROMOTE SOCIAL STABILITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION BY ALLOCATING RESOURCES, FORMER JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YASUHIRO NAKASONE SAID IN PITTSBURGH. THE FORMER PREMIER IS ON A TEN-DAY VISIT TO THE U.S.
-- MANILA IS ONE OF THE SAFEST CITIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICE IN MANILA.
-- JAPAN WILL EXTEND UP TO 29 MILLION YEN IN CULTURAL AID TO MALAYSIA.
-- TOKYO STOCK PRICES ROSE MODESTLY IN MODERATE TRADING AS THE 225-STOCK NIKKEI AVERAGE GAINED 51.53 YEN TO 27,212.58 YEN.
-- THE DOLLAR GAINED IN TOKYO, CLOSING AT 124.39 YEN, UP 0.15 YEN.
-- JAPANESE GOVERNMENT BOND PRICES RECOVERED ON THE TOKYO BOND MARKET AS BOTH SPOTS AND FUTURES ROSE. U.S. TREASURIES HELD STEADY WITH THE 8.875 PERCENT LONG BOND YIELDING 9.21 PERCENT IN LATE TRADING.
-- OSAKA STOCK FUTURES PRICES FELL.
-- TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. BECAME THE THIRD PARTICIPANT IN THE PHILIPPINE CAR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AFTER WINNING A BID FOR CAR ASSEMBLY FACILITIES OF THE DEFUNCT DELTA MOTORS CORP.
-- THE PRESIDENT OF THE TOKYO STOCK EXCHANGE AND OTHER SECURITIES INDUSTRY LEADERS CALLED ON THE GOVERNMENT TO SHELVE PLANS FOR A TAX ON STOCK-INDEX FUTURES TRANSACTIONS.
-- JAPAN PRESENTED SRI LANKA WITH WORD PROCESSORS, COPIERS AND OTHER EQUIPMENT TO BE USED IN COMPILING A SINHALESE DICTIONARY.
-- DEFENDING CHAMPION KATSUNARI TAKAHASHI FELL 2 AND 1 TO SABURO FUJIKI IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE JPGA MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP IN ISHIKAWA.
-- SHARP AND MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC SAID THEY HAVE COMPLETED BASIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT WORK FOR A NEW TYPE OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE PARALLEL PROCESSOR.
-- ISHIKAWAJIMA-HARIMA HEAVY INDUSTRIES SAID IT HAS COMPLETED CONSTRUCTION OF AN 80-BILLION YEN, TURNKEY STEEL ROLLING PLANT IN NEW ZEALAND.
-- A TRIAL MODEL OF A "FIFTH-GENERATION" COMPUTER WHICH CAN PERFORM HUMAN-LIKE, ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT FUNCTIONS SHOULD BE COMPLETE WITHIN THREE YEARS, MINISTRY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY OFFICIALS SAID.
-- SINGAPORE NATURAL RUBBER PRICES HIT A FIVE-YEAR HIGH THURSDAY AND ARE EXPECTED TO RISE EVEN HIGHER, AN INDUSTRY OFFICIAL IN SINGAPORE SAID.
-- CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY KEIZO OBUCHI'S AMBIGUOUS REACTION TO STATE MINISTER SEISUKE OKUNO'S DENIAL OF JAPAN'S AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR DURING WORLD WAR II STIFFENED THE RESOLVE OF OPPOSITION PARTIES.
-- JAPAN'S FORIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN YOSHIFUMI MATSUDA SAID RELATIONS BETWEEN JAPAN AND ITS CLOSEST EAST ASIAN NEIGHBORS IS "BEING SEVERELY DAMAGED" AS A RESULT OF RECENT REMARKS MADE BY A CABINET MINISTER DEFENDING JAPAN'S WARTIME ACTIONS.
-- U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WILLIAM TAFT URGED JAPAN TO INTRODUCE LONGER-RANGE EARLY WARNING AIRCRAFT AND OTHER LONG-RANGE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS.
-- JAPAN'S SELF-DEFENSE FORCES AND THE U.S. FORCES IN JAPAN WILL CONDUCT THE FIRST JOINT MAP DRILL ONLY INVOLVING THEIR TOP OFFICERS LATER THIS MONTH, THE DEFENSE AGENCY SAID.
-- MOZAMBIQUE'S PRESIDENT JOAQUIM CHISSANO WILL MAKE AN UNOFFICIAL VISIT TO JAPAN WITH HIS WIFE MARCELINA MAY 23-26, THE FOREIGN MINISTRY SAID.
-- ISRAEL WELCOMES JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER SOUSUKE UNO'S VISIT TO THE COUNTRY ON JUNE 26, AN ISRAEL FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN SAID.
-- CHINA FEELS THREATENED BY JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES THAN IT DOES BY THE SOVIET UNION, THE FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW REPORTED.
-- A DATING CLUB OWNER IN OSAKA HAS BEEN CONFIRMED AS AN AIDS PATIENT, OSAKA PREFECTURAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAID.
-- YOKOZUNA ONOKUNI STIFF-ARMED KOTOGAUME OUT OF THE RING BY THE THROAT TO REMAIN UNBEATEN AND TIED FOR THE LEAD ON THE FIFTH DAY OF THE SUMMER GRAND SUMO TOURNAMENT.
-- AN 18-MEMBER NORTH KOREAN DELEGATION IS DUE TO ARRIVE IN TOKYO FRIDAY TO TAKE PART IN THE NINTH ASIAN TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NIIGATA.
-- JAPAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER SOUSUKE UNO SAID HE WILL VISIT SYRIA, JORDAN, EGYPT AND ISRAEL BETWEEN JUNE 22 AND 27 ON HIS WAY HOME AFTER ATTENDING THE TORONTO SUMMIT OF SEVEN MAJOR ADVANCED DEMOCRACIES.
-- THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S SWEEPING ELECTION VICTORY TWO YEARS AGO HAS SWUNG THE RULING PARTY RIGHTIST-ORIENTED GIVING STATE MINISTER SEISUKE OKUNO A GOOD EXCUSE TO PLAY DOWN JAPAN'S WARTIME ACTIONS, POLITICAL COMMENTATORS SAY. (BACKGROUNDER)
-- THE SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT IS STILL WAITING FOR A SUBSTANTIVE EXPLANATION FROM THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT ABOUT ITS POSITION ON WAR RESPONSIBILITY, THE KOREAN EMBASSY IN TOKYO SAID.
-- CHINA'S COASTAL PROVINCES WILL HAVE GREATER POWERS TO APPROVE FOREIGN INVESTMENT PROJECTS, A CHINESE OFFICIAL SAID IN HONG KONG.
-- THOUSANDS OF MANILA'S BAR GIRLS HELD THEIR SECOND PROTEST RALLY IN THE CAPITAL TO PROTEST FREQUENT NIGHTLY POLICE RAIDS ON NIGHTCLUBS IN THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT.
-- SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION LEADER KIM DAE JUNG CALLED FOR A PARLIAMENTARY PROBE INTO FORMER PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN'S ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN THE 1980 KWANGJU INCIDENT.
-- SIXTEEN SOUTH KOREAN DIVERS HAVE BEEN TAKEN IN CUSTODY ON SUSPICION OF CATCHING EAR AND TURBAN SHELLS AT A PORT IN CENTRAL JAPAN IN VIOLATION OF IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS, OFFICIALS SAID.
-- THE HEAD OF THE UNITED NATIONS GOOD OFFICE MISSION FOR AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN VISITED THE KACHA GARHI AFGHAN REFUGEE CAMP NEAR PESHAWAR.
-- JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES ARE EXPECTED TO SHORTLY RESUME TALKS ON JAPAN'S LIBERALIZATION OF BEEF AND CITRUS IMPORTS, JAPANESE AND AMERICAN SOURCES SAID.
-- NEC CORP. HAS BEGUN MARKETING A NEW ELECTRONIC OFFICE FILING SYSTEM BASED ON ITS N5300AD OFFICE WORKSTATION AND A HIGH-CAPACITY OPTICAL DISK SYSTEM.
-- UNITIKA LTD. AND MARUBENI CORP. WILL ESTABLISH A JOINT VENTURE IN ITALY WITH ENICHEM FIBRE, ITALY'S STATE-OWNED SYSTHETIC FIBER MAKER, TO PRODUCE AND SELL NYLON WRAPPING MATERIAL FOR FOODSTUFFS.
-- NIPPON KOKAN K.K. HAS SUCCEEDED IN DEVELOPING AN EXTREMELY THIN SILICON ALLOY STEEL SHEET WITH ALMOST TWICE THE SILICON CONTENT AS PREVIOUSLY ACHIEVED.
-- A HIGH-RANKING TRADE OFFICIAL SAID JAPAN SHOULD GIVE SERIOUS CONSIDERATION TO A JAPAN-U.S. FREE TRADE ZONE PLAN AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TOWARD ACHIEVING BETTER BILATERAL RELATIONS.
-- THE VOLUME OF FUTURES BONDS TRANSACTIONS IN TOKYO FELL 35.4 PERCENT IN APRIL FROM THE PREVIOUS MONTH TO 213,417.2 BILLION YEN, MARKING THE FIRST MONTH-TO-MONTH SETBACK IN SIX MONTHS.
-- COCOM WILL HOLD A WORKING-LEVEL MEETING IN PARIS THIS SUMMER MAINLY TO STUDY RELAXATION OF EXPORT RESTRICTIONS ON CHINA, GOVERNMENT SOURCES SAID.
-- THREE OUT OF EVERY FIVE JAPANESE COMPANIES SURVEYED HAVE NO INTENTION OF HIRING FOREIGNERS, WHILE THE REST SAID THEY WOULD LIKE TO EMPLOY NON-JAPANESE.
-- SONY CORP. AND LSI LOGIC, A TOKYO SEMICONDUCTOR MAKER, ANNOUNCED A SALES TIE-UP AGREEMENT.
-- JAPAN SHOULD ESTABLISH "AN EFFICIENT DOMESTIC FINANCIAL MARKET" SO THAT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES CAN HAVE EASIER ACCESS TO HELP RELIEVE THEIR DEBT PROBLEMS BY THEMSELVES, A LEADING ECONOMIST SAID.
-- KYOWA HAKKO KOGYO CO. HAS CONCLUDED CONTRACTS WITH TWO MAJOR DRUG MAKERS IN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STAES TO PRODUCE THEIR ANTI-CANCER DRUGS FOR SALE IN JAPAN.
-- THE BANK OF JAPAN WILL MAINTAIN ITS CURRENT EASIER MONETARY POLICY EVEN IF THE UNITED STATES RAISES ITS DISCOUNT RATE, ITS OFFICIALS SAID.
-- STATE MINISTER SEISUKE OKUNO DENIED ANY INTENTION OF RESIGNING FROM THE CABINET OR RETRACTING HIS REMARK ON JAPAN'S WARTIME DEEDS WHICH HAS COME UNDER FIRE FROM CHINA AND SOUTH KOREA.
-- AN OSAKA MAN INFECTED WITH THE AIDS VIRUS WHO MAY HAVE HAD SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH OVER A HUNDRED WOMEN AND MEN HAS BEEN HOSPITALIZED IN OSAKA, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAID.
-- A HEMOPHILIACS SUPPORT GROUP URGED THE DIET TO KILL A GOVERNMENT- PROPOSED AIDS PREVENTION BILL CURRENTLY BEING SUBMITTED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Document 702
Copyright 1988 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
MAY 12, 1988, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 176 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; OPPOSITION CALLS FOR CHUN'S PROBE ON KWANGJU INCIDENT
DATELINE: SEOUL, MAY 12
BODY:
SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION LEADER KIM DAE JUNG THURSDAY CALLED FOR A PARLIAMENTARY PROBE INTO FORMER PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN'S ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN THE 1980 KWANGJU INCIDENT.
KIM, PRESIDENT OF THE MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY, SAID CHUN, THEN HEAD OF THE JOINT INVESTIGATION HEADQUARTERS OF THE MARTIAL LAW COMMAND, WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE BLOODY ANTI-GOVERNMENT UPRISING IN MAY 1980.
KIM SAID A POLITICAL CONSIDERATION CAN BE MADE IN PUNISHING THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INCIDENT BUT THERE CAN BE NO SANCTUARY IN REVEALING THE TRUTH.
HOWEVER, THE RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY IS STRONGLY OPPOSED TO THE DIRECT PROBE INTO THE FORMER PRESIDENT ON THE INCIDENT.
MEANWHILE, SOUTH KOREAN SECURITY AUTHORITIES SAID THURSDAY THEY WILL PUT THE NATION ON HIGH ALERT BETWEEN MAY 16 AND 20 FOR EXPECTED ANTI-GOVERNMENT RALLIES AND DEMONSTRATIONS AROUND THE EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCIDENT ON MAY 18.
STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO GATHER IN KWANGJU FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY AROUND THAT TIME TO MARK THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCIDENT.
Document 703
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 12, 1988, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 186 words
HEADLINE: south korean students clash with police
DATELINE: beijing, may 12; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
about 700 students at the hanguk university of foreign studies clashed with police in seoul thursday in protest against the bloody suppression of a 1980 popular uprising in kwangju. the uprising in kwangju, a city 274 km south of seoul, broke out may 17, 1980 with at least 191 people killed and more than 800 injured or wounded by the official count. to prevent the students from observing the incident, seoul ordered police to brace for protests next week during the ceremonies marking the eighth anniversary of the clash. south korean "president" roh tae-woo, former "president" chun doo hwan and other generals are accused by the students of ordering the massacre. kim dae jung, an opposition leader arrested by chun, then consolidating his power as "president," said that chun should be investigated for his role in crushing the uprising. meanwhile, another oppostion leader, kim young-sam, also demanded that the "former president" be investigated for his alleged role in the incident. he made the call shortly after his re-election to the presidency of the reunification democratic party thursday.
Document 704
The Associated Press
April 15, 1988, Friday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 345 words
HEADLINE: Relatives of Victims of Kwangju Uprising Attack Guards
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Relatives of victims of the 1980 Kwangju uprising threw rocks at presidential security guards in a cemetery Friday as President Roh Tae-woo visited the city.
Students supporting striking workers battled police at campuses around the country.
Dissident sources in Kwangju said the attack followed rumors Roh might visit Mangwoldong Cemetery, where many of the victims are buried.
Thousands of troops were mobilized to quell the May 1980 uprising in Kwangju that left at least 191 people dead and more than 800 others wounded.
Yonhap, the Korean news agency, said about 50 family members of the Kwangju victims hurled rocks at five presidential security guards inspecting the cemetery, seized their radio sets and smashed windows of their minibus.
Dissident sources said hundreds of riot police were deployed around the cemetery immediately after Friday's attack and police maintained tight security in Kwangju, the political base of opposition leader Kim Dae-jung.
Roh did not visit the cemetary.
However, he did apologize for the Kwangju incident on behalf of the government and urged citizens to bury their anger and work to build national harmony.
"I will do my best to restore the honor of Kwangju citizens," Roh told 300 regional leaders at a city government office.
The government officially apologized early this month for the killings at Kwangju and offered to make compensations for its victims.
Thousands of students backing striking workers clashed with riot police throughout the country. There were no reports of injuries or arrests.
Talks on reopening South Korea's second largest shipyard and car plant bogged down Friday and labor unrest spread to other businesses.
The facilities are owned by the Daewoo group, one of the country's largest conglomerates.
An official with the Labor Ministry said eight new strikes broke out Friday, raising to 349 the total number of disputes reported so far this year.
Of these, 266 disputes have been settled and 83 others were continuing, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Document 705
The Associated Press
April 15, 1988, Friday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 593 words
HEADLINE: Presidential Security Guards Attacked, More Strikes, Protests
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Relatives of victims who died in the 1980 Kwangju uprising attacked presidential security guards today in a cemetery where many of the victims are buried.
Students supporting striking workers battled police at campuses around the country.
Dissident sources in Kwangju said the attack, which occurred as President Roh Tae-woo visited Kwangju, followed rumors that Roh might visit Mangwoldong Cemetery at the northern suburbs of the city.
Yonhap, the Korean news agency, said about 50 family members of the Kwangju victims hurled rocks at five presidential security guards who were inspecting the cemetery and seized their radio sets.
It was not known whether Roh's security guards were at the cemetery to prepare for Roh's visit.
"Bring my sons alive," the protesters shouted as they chased after the fleeing security guards and smashed windows of a mini-bus used by the security guards, Yonhap said.
Anti-government sentiment in Kwangju is high because thousands of troops were mobilized to quel the nine-day uprising that left at least 191 people dead and more than 800 others wounded by official count.
Dissident sources said hundreds of riot police were deployed around the cemetery immediately after today's attack and that police maintained tight security in the southern political base of opposition leader Kim Dae-jung.
The attack at the cemetery broke out before Roh apologized for the Kwangju incident on behalf of the government and urged Kwangju citizens to bury anger and work together to build national harmony and conciliation.
"I will do my best to restore the honor of Kwangju citizens," Roh told 300 regional leaders at an office of the city government.
During last December's presidential election, Roh said he would revalue the Kwangju incident to restore the honor of people involved in it.
The Roh government officially apologized early this month for the Kwangju incident and offered to make compensations for its victims.
Company-employee talks on reopening South Korea's second largest shipyard and car plant bogged down today and labor unrest spread to other businesses.
The facilities are owned by the Daewoo group, one of the country's largest conglomerates.
The government warned of stern punishment against violent labor disputes and radicals, but thousands of students staged anti-government protests and clashed with riot police throughout the country.
About 1,000 students from 10 schools in Seoul battled riot police in violent demonstrations supporting workers at Seoul's Konkuk University.
"Topple dictatorship and suppression of free unions," students toting firebombs shouted as they charged into police at the gates.
Similar clashes also broke out at five provincial schools, but there were no reports of injuries and arrests.
In the southern city of Anyang, about 50 students joined a sit-in by some 300 striking taxi drivers who were demanding more salaries.
"The trouble is spreading," said an official at the Ministry of Labor who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said eight new strikes broke out today, raising to 349 the total number of disputes reported so far this year. Of these, 266 disputes have been settled and 83 others were under way as of today, he said.
The latest victims included Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., South Korea's largest ship repair yard, where 1,500 workers began a one-day strike today.
Hyundai's union leaders said they would organize a stronger protest next week unless management accepts their demand for higher pays and better fringe benefits.
Document 706
The Associated Press
April 1, 1988, Friday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 556 words
HEADLINE: Government Apologizes For Kwangju Rebellion, Proposes Compensation
BYLINE: By M.H. AHN, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
The government of President Roh Tae-woo formally apologized today for the bloody suppression of a 1980 rebellion in the southern city of Kwangju and proposed financial compensation for the victims.
The announcement by the 5-week-old government departed sharply from how the previous administration of Chun Doo-hwan handled the civilian uprising _ calling those involved "rioters."
The government "offers its sincere apology not only to the victims of the turmoil but also all residents of Kwangju and the general public," Culture and Information Minister Chung Han-mo told a news conference.
He said the administration "thinks the Kwangju turmoil can be considered a part of the democratization efforts of the students and citizens" in the provincial capital 200 miles south of Seoul.
Many citizens in Kwangju and other critics of the former president blame Chun for harshly suppressing the nine-day armed uprising. By official count, 191 people were killed and more than 800 wounded. Dissident sources claim the casualty figure was much higher.
The excessive lengths to which the government allegedly went to crush the uprising emerged as a major issue during the election campaign that ended in Roh's election in December.
Chung said that "to promote national reconciliation," the government decided "the wounds of the tragic Kwangju turmoil of May 1980 must be healed as quickly as possible."
Roh, who succeeded Chun Feb. 25, pledged during the campaign that he would restore the honor of Kwangju citizens by making a formal apology and offering compensation.
Chung said proposed measures include financial support and employment for the bereaved families and wounded victims, erection of a memorial monument and conversion of the Mangwol-dong Cemetery in Kwangju, where many of the victims are buried, into a park.
To effectively carry out the measures, Chung said a national commission chaired by the prime minister and a municipal commission led by the Kwangju mayor will be formed.
He said the government "appeals to all concerned parties _ the surviving victims, the citizens of Kwangju and the general Korean public _ to understand and forgive each other and put the pain of the turmoil behind them so that everyone can join hands to achieve grand national harmony."
The governing Democratic Justice Party welcomed the government announcement as "proper measures for democratization and national reconciliation."
But the main opposition Reunification Democratic Party charged the government was attempting to evade the main issue of what really happened during the Kwangju uprising.
The political opposition, joined by families of the victims, have demanded that an objective investigation be carried out and that those responsible be punished.
Government officials, however, maintain an investigation would aggravate the situation in Kwangju, site of violent riots during last year's campaign.
The conciliatory announcement, following the arrest Thursday of Chun's younger brother on corruption charges, is seen by some observers here as a move by Roh to distance himself from the authoritarian Chun at a time when the government party is gearing up for the National Assembly elections at the end of April.
Roh, a former general and schoolmate of Chun, helped the former president gain power in 1980.
Document 707
Copyright 1988 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
APRIL 1, 1988, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 64 words
HEADLINE: JAPANESE EVENING NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
DATELINE: TOKYO, APRIL 1
BODY:
FRIDAY EVENING NEWSPAPER HEADLINES:
-- U.S. CONGRESS TO SLAP 3-YEAR BAN ON TOSHIBA PRODUCTS. (ASAHI, MAINICHI, YOMIURI, NIHON KEIZAI)
-- S. KOREAN GOVERNMENT APOLOGIZES FOR 1980 KWANGJU INCIDENT. (MAINICHI)
-- REVISED LABOR STANDARD LAW COMES INTO EFFECT. (ASAHI)
Document 708
Copyright 1988 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
APRIL 1, 1988, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 180 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT APOLOGIZES FOR KWANGJU INCIDENT
SOURCE: YONHAP NEWS AGENCY
DATELINE: TOKYO, APRIL 1
BODY:
THE SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT FRIDAY APOLOGIZED TO THE PEOPLE FOR THE MAY 1980 ANTIGOVERNMENT CIVIL UPRISING IN KWANGJU, THE SOUTHWESTERN PROVINCIAL CAPITAL, ACCORDING TO A YONHAP NEWS AGENCY REPORT FROM SEOUL.
THE REPORT, MONITORED HERE, SAID THE GOVERNMENT ISSUED A SET OF MEASURES DESIGNED TO HELP HEAL THE SCARS OF THE INCIDENT.
THE MEASURES INCLUDED THE GOVERNMENT'S APOLOGY, A REDEFINITION OF THE INCIDENT, COMPENSATION AND SUPPORT FOR THE BEREAVED FAMILIES AND THE INJURED AND FORMATION OF THREE GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS TO CARRY OUT RECONCILIATORY MEASURES.
THE GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZED THE INCIDENT AS PART OF EFFORTS BY STUDENTS AND KWANGJU CITIZENS FOR THE NATION'S DEMOCRATIZATION, NOT A 'RIOT' AS IT PREVIOUSLY CHARACTERIZED THE RISING.
IN AN ANNOUNCEMENT, CULTURE AND INFORMATION MINISTER CHUNG MAN MO SAID NEARLY 200 CIVILIANS, SOLDIERS AND POLICEMEN WERE KILLED AND A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE INJURED IN THE INCIDENT.
THE MINISTER EXPRESSED THE GOVERNMENT'S APOLOGY TO THE VICTIMS, KWANGJU CITIZENS AND THE NATION AT LARGE FOR THE INCIDENT.
Document 709
Copyright 1988 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
FEBRUARY 27, 1988, SATURDAY
LENGTH: 253 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; SOUTH KOREAAN OPPOSITION PARTIES TO MERGE IN MARCH
DATELINE: SEOUL, FEB. 27
BODY:
SOUTH KOREA'S TWO MAJOR OPPOSITION PARTIES DECIDED SATURDAY TO HOLD THEIR OWN SPECIAL PARTY RALLIES ON MARCH 4 TO FINALIZE THE PLANNED MERGER OF THE TWO PARTIES.
THE DECISION WILL BE FINALIZED ON MONDAY AT SEPARATE MEETINGS OF THE TWO PARTIES, THE NO. 1 OPPOSITION REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY (RDP) AND THE NO. 2 OPPOSITION PARTY FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY (PPD), POLITICAL SOURCES HERE SAID.
MEANWHILE, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER LEE CHAI HYUNG ANNOUNCED SATURDAY HE WOULD CONVENE A WEEK-LONG EXTRA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SESSION ON MARCH 2 TO DISCUSS ASSEMBLY ELECTION AND LOCAL ADMINISTRATION LAWS.
ALSO ON SATURDAY, PPD LEADER KIM DAE JUNG SAID HE IS READY TO ACCOMPANY PRESIDENT ROH TAE WOO TO THE SOUTHERN PROVINCIAL CAPITAL OF KWANGJU TO RESOLVE THE 1980 KWANGJU UPRISING ISSUE, IF ROH SINCERELY APOLOGIZES TO THE KWANGJU CITIZENS AND OFFERS SUFFICIENT COMPENSATION TO THE VICTIMS OF THE INCIDENT.
THE BLOODY KWANGJU UPRISING ON MAY 18-27, 1980 COST THE LIVES OF AT LEAST 189 PERSONS AND INJURED ABOUT 380 OTHERS.
ROH. WHO WAS SWORN IN AS THE SUCCESSOR TO PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN ON THURSDAY, HAS MADE IT KNOWN THAT THE SETTLEMENT OF THE KWANGJU INCIDENT IS ONE OF MAJOR TASKS IN HIS NATIONAL RECONCILIATION MEASURES.
KIM, SPEAKING BEFORE A SEOUL RALLY DEMANDING A REGIONAL ELECTORAL SYSTEM, ALSO SAID HE IS READY TO COOPERATE WITH ROH IN PROMOTING POLITICAL STABILITY, IF ROH CARRIES OUT HIS DEMOCRATIZATION PROMISE. KIM URGED THE NEW PRESIDENT TO RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS FROM JAIL.
Document 710
Copyright 1988 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
FEBRUARY 26, 1988, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 249 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-MALAYSIA, SOUTH KOREA; POLITICAL REFORMS TOP ISSUE FOR ROH GOVERNMENT, NEW STRAITS TIMES SAYS
SOURCE: NEW STRAITS TIMES
DATELINE: KUALA LUMPUR, FEB. 25
BODY:
GREATER DEMOCRATIZATION OF SOUTH KOREA SHOULD BE A TOP PRIORITY FOR NEW PRESIDENT ROH TAE WOOK MALAYSIA'S LEADING NEWSPAPER, THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, SAID THURSDAY.
CITING THE ECONOMIC MIRACLE BROUGHT ABOUT BY ROH'S PREDECESSOR, CHUN DOO HWAN, THE DAILY SAID, 'CAN (THE NEW PRESIDENT) PERFORM THE POLITICAL REFORM THAT SOME PEOPLE EXPECT OF HIM?'
ROH WAS SWORN IN AS SOUTH KOREA'S NEW PRESIDENT THURSDAY AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF RULE BY CHUN DURING WHICH THE COUNTRY HAS EMERGED AS ONE OF ASIA'S MAIN INDUSTRIALIZED POWERS.
IN AN EDITORIAL TITLED 'TOWARD DEMOCRACY,' THE NEWSPAPER NOTED THAT ROH, A FORMER FOUR-STAR ARMY GENERAL, CALLED FOR SWEEPING DEMOCRATIC REFORMS LAST YEAR.
THE DAILY ADDED, HOWEVER, THAT THE QUESTION WILL BE WHETHER HE WILL REALLY CARRY OUT THE POLITICAL REFORMS HE HAS PROMISED.
WHETHER OR NOT ROH CAN ACHIEVE A POLITICAL MIRACLE, IT SAID, 'WILL LARGELY DEPEND ON THE ACTUAL PROGRESS IN SOUTH KOREA'S DEMOCRATIZATION DURING (ROH'S) FIVE-YEAR TERM.'
ALSO NOTHING THAT THE 1980 KWANGJU INCIDENT IS STILL CASTING A LONG SHADOW ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THE DAILY SAID NATIONAL RECONCILIATION IS ANOTHER MAJOR ISSUE FOR THE ROH ADMINISTRATION.
AT LEAST 200 PEOPLE, MOSTLY CIVILIANS, DIED IN CLASHES WITH THE MILITARY IN KWANGJU, CAPITAL OF THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE OF CHOLLA, DURING A GENERAL REBELLION WHICH FOLLOWED THE MILITARY COUP IN WHICH CHUN TOOK POWER.
DISSIDENTS ACCUSE CHUN AND ROH, ARMY LEADERS AT THE TIME, OF RESPONSIBILITY IN THE BLOODY INCIDENT.
Document 711
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
FEBRUARY 25, 1988, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 314 words
HEADLINE: roundup: new south korean president faces old problems
DATELINE: pyongyang, february 25; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
roh tae-woo was inaugurated as south korea's 13th president today, succeeding chun doo-hwan who stepped down yesterday at the end of his single seven-year term. this is the first peaceful transfer of power in south korea's constitutional history. although the new president promised to continue measures to consolidate his political foundations before and after today's oath as president, he still faces a series of political and economic difficulties. the measures he took before assuming office include the reshuffling of some organizations belonging to the ruling democratic justice party (djp), revision of the djp constitution, meeting and discussing with opposition party leaders on parliamentary elections and national consultations, and amnesty for a number of political offenders. after taking the oath of office today, he promised in his inaugural address that his administration "will open an area for democracy in which each citizen can reach his full potential." like the saying which goes "trying to put out a burning cartload of faggots with a cup of water", his measures and promises can hardly solve the host of problems on the political scene. the thorny problem roh faces after assuming power is how to remove political sequelae. to date, the democratic reunification party (drp), the peace for democracy party (pdp), and some students influenced by the two opposition parties still believe that the last december 16 presidential election was a fraud, although roh was elected to the presidency by 36.6 percent of votes cast. the bloody suppression of the 1980 kwangju uprising by the south korean army remains fresh in the memory of the people. many students in seoul, kwangju and elsewhere recently held rallies and demonstrations demanding that roh be responsible for the kwangju incident, and appealed to the people to boycott roh's inauguration.
Document 712
The Associated Press
February 24, 1988, Wednesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 300 words
HEADLINE: Government Urged To Apologize For 1980 Actions At Kwangju
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
A civic panel recommending policy guidelines to the president called on the government to apologize for the military's bloody suppression of a civil uprising in the city of Kwangju, members said today.
The Committee for the Promotion of Democracy and National Reconciliation also said the government should compensate victims of the 1980 revolt, said panel members.
By official count, at least 191 people were killed and more than 800 were wounded in the nine-day uprising in the southern city of Kwangju. Dissident sources say the casualty figure was much higher.
President-elect Roh Tae-woo set up the 56-member committee after winning the Dec. 16 presidential elections, saying he needed "policy guidelines" reflecting the opinions of broad sections of the society.
The committee called on the Roh government, to be inaugurated Thursday, to make an open apology for the Kwangju incident and compensate its victims.
The committee also urged Roh to declare a human rights charter in a bid to show his determination to support civil rights.
The committee said a government apology is needed because harsh military suppression was partly blamed for the anti-government uprising, the worst in modern Korean history.
The Kwangju incident is a touchy political issue involving Roh and his predecessor, Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power with military backing in 1980. They are known to have played a key part in the military suppression of the uprising.
The United States has also been criticized for its alleged part in the military suppression of the Kwangju uprising. Government critics have alleged that the top U.S. commander in Seoul permitted some South Korean army units under his operational control to help crush the Kwangju revolt.
The United States has denied the allegations.
Document 713
Copyright 1988 U.P.I.
February 24, 1988, Wednesday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 728 words
HEADLINE: Chronology of South Korea's Fifth Republic
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
A chronology of the highlights of the Fifth Republic, led by President Chun Doo Hwan who retired Feb. 24 after more than seven years in power: 1979
Oct. 26 -- President Park Chung-hee, who ruled by dictatorial decree for 18 years, is assassinated by the chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.
Oct. 27 -- Martial law is declared to cope with the crisis caused by the assassination of the president.
Dec. 12 -- Maj. Gen. Chun Doo Hwan, head of the investigation into the Park assassination, arrests the martial law commander for alleged attempts to save Park's assassin, KCIA Director Kim Jae-kyu. Gen. Roh Tae-woo moves troops off the North Korean border to back Chun's move. 1980
May 17 -- Chun, who effectively controls the government, expands martial law and orders the arrest of Kim Dae Jung and other leading opposition politicians.
May 18 -- A civil uprising breaks out in the southern city of Kwangju in Kim Dae Jung's home province and for more than a week civilians take control of the city.
May 27 -- Government troops crush the Kwangju revolt.
May 31 -- The government says 170 people were killed in Kwangju, but dissidents say the true casualty figure is much higher.
Aug. 27 -- Chun Doo Hwan, who retired Aug. 23 from the military as a four-star general, is elected president by an indirect electoral college and sworn in Sept. 1.
Sept. 17 -- A court sentences Kim Dae Jung to death for conspiring to spark the Kwangju uprising, which will be used as an anti-Chun rallying cry for the rest of the Fifth Republic.
Nov. 12 -- The government bans 911 people from politics for the next eight years for involvement in what was termed social disturbances. Two days later, the government clamps down on the press, forcing newspapers and television stations to close. 1981
Jan. 24 -- Chun lifts martial law.
Feb. 25 -- Chun is elected president for a seven-year term.
Sept. 30 -- The International Olympic Committee awards the XXIV Summer Olympic Games to Seoul. 1982
Dec. 16 -- The government grants permission for dissident Kim Dae Jung to leave South Korea for medical treatment in the United States. 1983
Sept. 1 -- A Soviet fighter jet fires a missile at a civilian Korean Air (KAL) jet that had penetrated Soviet air space, killing all 269 people aboard.
Oct. 9 -- Chun narrowly escapes a North Korean assassination attempt while on an official trip to Rangoon, Burma. A bomb planted at a memorial tomb kills 17 prominent South Korean officials. 1985
Feb. 8 -- Dissident leader Kim Dae Jung returns to Seoul after two years of exile in the United States and is immediately put under house arrest.
March 6 -- Chun lifts bans against opposition leaders Kim Dae Jung, still under house arrest, and Kim Young-sam, enabling them to engage in politics. 1986
Jan. 16 -- Chun postpones talks on revising the constitution to allow direct presidential elections until after the Summer Olympics in September 1988.
April 30 -- Facing strong protests from opposition political parties, Chun agrees to revise the constitution if the ruling and opposition parties can reach agreement. 1987
April 13 -- Chun announces constitutional revision negotiations are suspended and that the next president will be elected under the same electoral college system that brought him to power.
June 10 -- The ruling party nominates its chairman, Roh Tae-woo, for president, virtually assuring his rise to power. Three weeks of riots erupt around the country and police are unable to crush them.
June 26 -- Hundreds of thousands of people across the nation stage violent demonstrations calling for a direct presidential election.
June 29 -- Roh Tae-woo stuns the nation when he agrees to face opposition candidates in a direct presidential election, and proposes sweeping democratic reforms. Chun agrees July 1.
Oct. 28 -- Kim Dae Jung bolts from the main opposition party led by Kim Young-sam after both men break a promise to field one opposition candidate against Roh. The decision later dooms the opposition in the election.
Dec. 16 -- Roh Tae-woo wins the presidential election with 36 percent of the vote, while opposition candidates Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young-sam split 55 percent of the vote in the first popular election since 1971. 1988
Feb. 24 -- Chun steps down at the end of his seven-year term. Roh is to be inaugurated Feb. 25.
Document 714
Copyright 1988 U.P.I.
February 23, 1988, Tuesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 790 words
HEADLINE: 1980 uprising, seeks democratic guarantees
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
A commission formed by President-elect Roh Tae-woo recommended today that the government formally apologize for using excessive force to crush a 1980 civilian uprising at the time of President Chun Doo Hwan's rise to power.
The report, issued two days before Roh is to take power, also outlined a long list of proposals to promote democracy in South Korea and begin the process of turning away from authoritarian government toward a more democratic political system.
Roh formed the panel -- the Commission for the Promotion of Democracy and Reconciliation -- in January to develop proposals for implementing his campaign promise to bring democratic reforms to South Korea and end its 40-year history of military and military-backed regimes.
By appointing a commission to study the 1980 uprising, Roh broke with seven years of steely silence on the incident, which has dogged Chun during his administration and fueled opposition attempts to topple him.
But the panel did not gain broad-based political support. The most powerful opposition leaders rejected a proposal to appoint representatives to the commission, saying an entirely independent board should investigate the incident, known as the ''Kwangju Uprising.''
The uprising, sparked in the southern city of Kwangju by the arrest of leading dissident Kim Dae Jung, occurred as then-Gen. Chun Doo Hwan was consolidating his power. He was elected president three months after the uprising was crushed.
The government has never allowed an independent investigation of the incident and, until recently, Chun did not speak of it. In a farewell press conference Saturday, Chun finally termed it the ''most unhappy incident in the nation's modern history.''
''Excessive action to put down the protest at the initial stage was one of the causes that led to many casualties and great loss of property,'' the report said.
''Because there has not been enough care for the casualties and the bereaved family members following the incident, there should be an apology at the government level,'' the report said.
The commission also said the new government should promote democratic development by guaranteeing human rights, freeing the news media from government control and assuring political neutrality of the military and independence of the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the nation's 120,000-strong national police force went on full alert to guard against student protests during Roh's inauguration.
Protests against the close ally of outgoing President Chun Doo Hwan have been small and scattered since Roh won in the first direct election in 17 years, but students on several campuses across the nation clashed with police Monday, four days before the inauguration.
The government ordered the national police on full alert early today and said they would stay in the heightened state of readiness through Friday to put down any anti-government protests that might flare up during the inaugural festivities.
Chun, who rose to power through a 1979 coup, ends his seven-year term at midnight Wednesday in what would become the first non-violent change of presidents in South Korean history.
Roh, 56, who officially takes power at midnight Wednesday, is scheduled to be inaugurated Thursday morning at a ceremony attended by U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker, Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita and more than 80 other international dignitaries.
After the ceremony, Roh will drive to the Blue House, South Korea's official residence, where he will become the first president whose administration was not preceded by a coup or assassination since Syngman Rhee became the nation's first leader after World War II.
In advance of his inauguration, Roh has been laying the groundwork to fulfill a campaign promise to alter the course of South Korea's government from military and military-backed regimes to a system that relies on compromise rather than confrontation with opponents.
During his seven years in power, Chun built and used a pervasive internal security network to crush dissent from the political opposition, dissidents and students.
Roh was elected president of the ruling Democratic Justice Party Monday and told party members, ''The time has come for the entire Korean people to put their divisiveness and strife behind ...''
His first effort at achieving that goal faltered last week when he announced a Cabinet that included eight members of Chun's government. Commentators called the reshuffle ''old wine in old bottles'' but speculated that another change would occur later.
Government sources said Roh is planning a sweeping amnesty of more than 7,000 people, including political prisoners and convicted criminals, soon after the inauguration.
Document 715
Copyright 1988 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
FEBRUARY 20, 1988, SATURDAY
LENGTH: 244 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; CHUN REGRETS FAILURE TO RESOLVE KWANGJU UPRISING ISSUE
DATELINE: SEOUL, FEB. 20
BODY:
PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN SATURDAY DESCRIBED THE 1980 UPRISING IN KWANGJU AS THE MOST UNHAPPY INCIDENT IN MODERN SOUTH KOREAN HISTORY AND EXPRESSED GREAT REGRET THAT HE HAS NOT YET RESOLVED THE MATTER.
CHUN, WHO GIVES UP THE PRESIDENTIAL POST TO HIS HAND-PICKED SUCCESSOR, ROH TAE WOO, NEXT THURSDAY, TOLD REPORTERS AT THE PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE THAT HIS GOVERNMENT HAS DONE ITS BEST TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE. BUT NO SATISFACTORY SOLUTION HAS BEEN REACHED YET AND "THAT IS MY GREAT REGRET," HE TOLD HIS LAST PRESS CONFERENCE, TELEVISED NATIONALLY.
THE UPRISING IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCIAL CAPITAL OF KWANGJU IN MAY 1980 CLAIMED THE LIVES OF AT LEAST 189 PEOPLE AND INJURED 380 OTHERS.
CHUN SAID THE GAP IN THE ECONOMIC STRENGTH BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA WILL WIDEN FURTHER IN A FEW YEARS TO A RATIO OF ONE TO SIX.
"THE NORTH UNDER INTERNAL PRESSURE AND INTERNATIONAL ISOLATION WILL HAVE TO BREAK THE (ECONOMIC) DIFFICULTIES THROUGH IMPROVED RELATIONS BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH," HE SAID.
HE SAID BILATERAL EXCHANGES AND COOPERATION BETWEEN THE TWO WILL BECOME POSSIBLE IN THE EARLY 1990S AND ADDED THEIR RELATIONS WILL BECOME BETTER THAN THOSE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST GERMANY AT PRESENT.
THE PRESIDENT SAID THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH SHOULD BE REUNITED IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND URGED HIS PEOPLE TO PREPARE FOR THE REUNIFICATION.
CHUN, WHO ASSUMED THE OFFICE IN 1980, IS THE FIRST SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN IN A PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER.
Document 716
Copyright 1988 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JANUARY 11, 1988, MONDAY
LENGTH: 256 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT-ELECT ROH SETS UP FORUM FOR NATIONALRECONCILIATION
DATELINE: SEOUL, JAN. 11
BODY:
PRESIDENT-ELECT ROH TAE WOO FORMED HIS ADVISORY PANEL MONDAY IN HIS EFFORT TO PROMOTE NATIONAL RECONCILIATION FOLLOWING HIS VICTORY IN LAST DECEMBER'S DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
ROH NAMED 51 PERSONS FROM VARIOUS SECTORS OF SOUTH KOREAN SOCIETY, INCLUDING RELIGIOUS AND LABOR LEADERS, AS MEMBERS OF A COMMITTEE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND NATIONAL RECONCILIATION.
THE PANEL MEMBERS ALSO INCLUDE REPRESENTATIVES OF BEREAVED FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO DIED IN THE 1980 ANTIGOVERNMENT RIOTING IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CITY OF KWANGJU.
HEALING THE WOUNDS LEFT BY THE KWANGJU INCIDENT, WHICH CLAIMED THE LIVES OF ABOUT 190 PEOPLE, HAS BEEN CITED BY ROH AS A TOP PRIORITY TASK FOR HIS FORTHCOMING GOVERNMENT.
THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WHICH HAS SUBGROUPS ON NATIONAL RECONCILIATION, THE PROMOTION OF DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL REFORMS, WILL SUBMIT ITS RECOMMENDATIONS TO ROH, PRESIDENT OF THE RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY.
THE NEW ADVISORY PANEL IS TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED TO FUNCTION UNTIL THE FORMATION OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT UNDER ROH, WHO WILL BE SWORN IN ON FEBRUARY 25 TO SUCCEED PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN.
THE TENURE OF THE PANEL COULD BE EXTENDED FOR A LONGER ASSIGNMENT, IF NECESSARY, INFORMED SOURCES SAID.
THE PANEL IS EXPECTED TO WORK OUT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ELIMINATING AUTHORITARIANISM, THE GENERATION GAP, THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR AND REGIONAL ANTAGONISM.
THE PANEL LIST INCLUDED LEE KANG GUN, A FORMER INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT ACTIVIST WHO NOW SERVES AN ADVISER TO THE OPPOSITION PARTY FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY.
Document 717
Copyright 1987 Asahi News Service Asahi News Service
DECEMBER 22, 1987, TUESDAY
LENGTH: 698 words
HEADLINE: SOUTH KOREA'S ROH EMPHASIZES NATIONAL RECONCILIATION
DATELINE: SEOUL
BODY:
Roh Tae-woo has many tasks ahead as South Korea's next president, but he said in an exclusive interview with The Asahi Shimbun Dec. 22 that restoring national harmony, establishing diplomatic ties with China and eventual peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula have the highest priority.
In his first interview with a foreign newspaper since his Dec. 16 victory, Roh told Kunio Itoh, managing editor of The Asahi Shimbun, that he intends to pursue democratic reforms in South Korea, establish relations with China, hold dialogues with North Korea and encourage North Korea's participation in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, and strengthen relations with Japan. The one-hour interview was conducted at the Research Institute for Policy of the ruling Democratic Justice Party in Seoul.
''The first thing I must grapple with after inauguration of the new government is establishing harmony among our people,'' Roh said. During the monthlong campaign before the election there were numerous charges and counterclaims of regional factionalism. Roh said he intends to expand upon his June 29 declarations for democratic reforms to resolve conflict in political and economic sectors.
Toward that objective, Roh said, a panel was set up Dec. 21 to establish a Committee for the Promotion of Democratic National Harmony, with 50 key members of ruling and opposition political parties and from outside government. He said it was especially important to resolve the bitterness that has remained since the 1980 Kwangju incident, in which soldiers and demonstrators clashed. ''We will see to it that at least the fundamental matters are resolved before the inauguration of the new government,'' Roh said.
Opposition candidates and their supporters have complained the election -- in which Roh won with 36.6 percent of the popular vote -- was unfair. But Roh said most South Koreans accept his victory and ''look forward to a national accord. So I would think that the opposition will also agree to it in due course.''
Responding to an opposition campaign platform of bringing military government to an end in South Korea, Roh said that military government ended when he made his declaration of democratic reforms June 29. He expressed confidence that the term ''military regime'' would no longer be part of opposition rhetoric, based on his own military background. That, he said, makes him best able ''to prevent military intervention, should there be any, more effectively than anyone else.''
Later in the interview, however, Roh said he regarded his mentor and military academy classmate Chun Doo-hwan as a national mentor and counselor, who would receive ''due consideration'' for his role in bringing the 1988 Olympic Games to South Korea. Roh said he hoped to call on Chun for advice during his administration.
Although South Korea does not have a ''vote of confidence,'' as such, Roh said he would take full responsibility for bringing the nation together again and for staging a successful Olympiad.
Roh noted that the Seoul Olympic Games present an opportunity for broader dialogue with North Korea and a thaw in relations between North and South. ''With the successful conclusion of the Olympics next year, our nation will have a considerably enhanced deterrent,'' he said. That should be an impetus for gradual renewal of and expansion of relations with North Korea, Roh said, which could lead to peaceful unification, with support from Japan, China and the Soviet Union.
Roh said he hoped to establish full diplomatic relations with China, referring to the nation by its formal title, ''People's Republic of China,'' adding that expanded ties, with the Olympic Games as a stimulus, could lead to higher-level exchanges and ''spontaneous development of diplomatic ties.'' He asked for help from Japan in forming such links.
To strengthen relations between Japan and South Korea, Roh said it was important to increase youth exchanges and mutual cultural, economic, technical and trade ties. ''I would think Japan should make further efforts to resolve its trade imbalance with South Korea and to improve the status of South Korean residents in Japan,'' Roh added.
Document 718
Copyright 1987 Asahi News Service Asahi News Service
DECEMBER 22, 1987, TUESDAY
LENGTH: 1390 words
DATELINE: SEOUL
BODY:
Roh Tae-woo, the 55-year-old military academy classmate of South Korea's President Chun Doo-hwan, says his first and greatest challenge as president-elect is to heal the divisiveness that has brought widespread disorder to his country.
Roh won the right to succeed Chun as the nation's first popularly elected president in 16 years by drawing 36.6 percent of the more than 22 million votes cast Dec. 16. In an exclusive interview Dec. 22 with Kunio Itoh, managing editor of The Asahi Shimbun, Roh detailed the priorities he has set out for his five-year term beginning next February. Following are excerpts from the interview.
ASAHI: You pledged in the presidential election campaign to increase the per capita gross national product (GNP) to $5,000 annually in five years, to restore freedom of speech and to resolve the Kwangju incident (the nine-day clash of demonstrators and soldiers in May 1980 that left at least 193 dead.) How do you intend to fulfill those tasks? Are the political exiles now in Japan to be exonerated?
ROH: The first thing I must grapple with after inauguration of the new government is establishing harmony among our people. The declaration I made on June 29 was intended as a basis for further development of democracy by resolving conflict in the political and economic sectors.
The fact that the (presidential) election has produced this outcome is a manifestation of the strong public support of the June 29 declaration. There are some people who are unwilling to accept the outcome, but most of the people do accept it and look forward to a national concord. So I would think that the opposition will also agree to it in due course.
The primary challenge of the new administration is to open the curtain wide for the development of democracy under the banner of national harmony. If we make more progress by taking advantage of the National Assembly and local elections scheduled for next year, bring about a successful 1988 Seoul Olympiad in a graceful and festive mood with the participation of nations from all over the world, there will be a grand chorus of national concord.
More substantively, I can say that we have established a preliminary panel to form a Committee for the Promotion of Democratic National Harmony. The panel has about 50 prominent members from the ruling and opposition parties, and from outside government. Resolving the Kwangju Incident and other issues will be on the agenda of its subcommittees, and we will see to it that at least the fundamental matters are resolved before the inauguration of the new government.
Q: During the election campaign, the opposition called for an end to military rule. In response to this demand, you replied that you were the best person to end military government because you are so well-acquainted with the military. South Korean scholars now living in the United States have said you should resign the presidency after you put civilian government on the right track after the Seoul Olympics. Just how are you going to dissipate the military onus on the ruling party to bring about a civilian administration?
A: I have stated that military government came to an end with the June 29 declaration. I believe that the people have chosen me because they trust me to honor that declaration.
In the history of constitutional government it is clear that he who is not able to understand and control the military may not be able to prevent military intervention. What I wanted to make clear during the election campaign was my strong belief that I, with my military background, would be able to prevent military intervention, should there be any, more effectively than anyone else. Take a look at the way the new government is to be conducted. I am confident that no one will use the term ''military regime'' to describe it.
Q: During the election campaign you said that you would be willing to subject yourself to an expression of the will of the people after the Olympic Games. Just what form do you intend such an expression to take? Now that you have been elected president by popular vote, do you intend to consider evolving a parliamentary cabinet form of democracy as outlined by the ruling Democratic Justice Party?
A: Anyone who is to become president must have a strong will to achieve two key mandates: democracy through national harmony, and conclusion of a successful Olympiad, which is equally a Korean and international event. What I meant to say (during the campaign) was that if I could not achieve those two objectives, I would not hesitate to assume full responsibility. It is with this conviction that I said I would be ready to subject myself to public assessment, because we do not constitutionally have a method of national votes of confidence.
Q: After you assume the presidency, how do you plan to treat President Chun Doo-hwan, who was instrumental in bringing the Olympic Games to South Korea?
A: President Chun is already honorary president of the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee. At the opening of the Games I wish to give due consideration to make him feel it was worthwhile to have made the effort to bring the Olympics about. In our country, the outgoing president by custom becomes chairman of the National Administrative Advisory Council. Beyond that, I intend to regard him as a senior counselor, with all the courtesies that role implies.
The president has accomplished more difficult tasks before me, and I hope that he will advise me whenever I face difficulties in the future.
Q: In the climate of easing of tension in Asia, with the rapprochement of the United States and the Soviet Union as embodied in signing the treaty on Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF), there are strong opinions expressed that North Korea and South Korea must also reach some kind of accord.
Will the new government take substantial steps toward fuller dialogue with the North? The Seoul Olympiad will be a key to a thaw in relations between North and South. Now that East Germany and Hungary have decided to participate in the Olympics, the North Korean intention is of interest to the world. Are there any plans to encourage North Korea's participation? What are the prospects for participation of communist countries?
A: Our nation has always sought dialogue and an easing of tension between North and South, and we will continue those efforts. In the past, there has been a military imbalance and a military threat from the North. With the successful conclusion of the Olympics next year, our nation will have a considerably enhanced deterrent. The North will have to abandon any idea of unification by force. We in South Korea intend to behave like elder brothers to the North.
In the election campaign I offered the idea of a three-stage unification of North and South. The first phase would be a relaxing of tension, which could include a dialogue and public exchanges in a spirit of peaceful coexistence, the signing of a non-aggression treaty, a ''cross-recognition'' of North Korea and South Korea, and simultaneous representation in the United Nations.
In the second phase, economic cooperation between North and South could be stepped up and the ethnic unity of Korea reaffirmed. When these steps are achieved, a democratic government would be established through a common constitution agreed upon by North and South, thus paving the way for unification. It seems to me that the time has come for Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union to cooperate for this purpose.
In regard to the Seoul Olympics, we have said we will heartily welcome North Korean participation and, in fact, we have opened our doors. We have also proposed that some of the events be held in the North. With the Olympics as an impetus, we have sought to improve relations with North Korea. But neither the International Olympic Committee nor our own country has been able to accept the unrealistic proposals of the North. Both the IOC and South Korea believe that it would not be easy for North Korea to stage Olympic events in light of its internal situation.
Fortunately, I am convinced that the Soviet Union and East European nations, as well as Free World nations, will surely participate in the Olympics. I wish this optimistic mood of the world would encourage North Korea's participation.
Document 719
The Associated Press
December 16, 1987, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 454 words
HEADLINE: Roh: A Long-Time Military Man Gradually Becomes a Politician
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Roh Tae-woo, the hand-picked successor to President Chun Doo-hwan, has long held the reputation of being more moderate than the men who took power in South Korea in 1980.
But Roh still stunned the nation June 29 when he suddenly demanded that Chun give in to the huge crowds that had taken to the streets across the country to demand an end to authoritarian rule.
Koreans could not believe that the 55-year-old Roh could have executed such a turnabout, and many began to see him in a different light.
Roh, head of the governing Democratic Justice Party, even threatened to quit if the president did not submit.
"The people are the masters of their country and the peoples' will must come before everything else," he declared at the height of the anti-government riots.
The former general and long-time confidant of Chun insists he is determined to end the nation's tradition of military-backed government and bring in full democracy.
"I stand before history and the nation with an extraordinary determination to help build a great homeland in which there is love and harmony among all segments and strata of the population," Roh said in June.
Roh often has seemed different from the tough ex-military men like Chun who have dominated Korean politics with authoritarian governments.
Handsome and seemingly shy, Roh's soft features and easy smile enhanced his image as a moderate in recent years even as he supported Chun and became a national figure.
He admitted to such interests as a passion for the works of romantic German writer Herman Hesse along with the more soldierly pastimes of rugby and other sports.
Chun and Roh were in the same class at the Korean Military Academy and they stayed in touch as they rose through the ranks to become generals.
As a division commander, Roh played a key role in backing Chun by moving troops into Seoul when the army intervened following the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979.
In 1981, Roh hung up his uniform to enter politics. Chun quickly moved him into a series of high-level posts concluding with an appointment as chairman of the Democratic Justice Party.
Roh often insisted he was not comfortable in politics when he left the army. But all reports indicate he was an apt student who worked hard at cultivating a friendly and popular style, in contrast to the cold and remote manner of Chun.
Still, there is great distrust for him in the political opposition. Some of its more radical elements have been demanding that he be required to explain his role in the bloody suppression of the 1980 anti-government Kwangju uprising.
Roh, a senior general at the time, has denied any responsiblity for the actions that left at least 191 dead.
Document 720
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
DECEMBER 14, 1987, MONDAY
LENGTH: 400 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION LEADER KIM YOUNG SAM CALLS ON KIM DAE JUNGTO DROP OUT
DATELINE: SEOUL, DEC. 14
BODY:
SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION LEADER KIM YOUNG SAM CONTINUED HIS OFFENSIVE AGAINST PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE KIM DAE JUNG MONDAY, CALLING ON HIS RIVAL TO DROP OUT OF THE ELECTION RACE TO FORM A UNITED OPPOSITION FRONT.
SOUTH KOREA'S THREE LEADING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES CENTERED THEIR ACTIVITIES IN THE SEOUL AREA IN THE STRETCH DRIVE OF THE MONTH- LONG CAMPAIGN PERIOD WHICH IS DUE TO WIND UP WITH THE DECEMBER 16 POLL.
KIM YOUNG SAM, HEAD OF THE MAIN OPPOSITION REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY (RDP), TOLD SUPPORTERS IN A RALLY SPEECH THAT IT WAS THE LAST OPPORTUNITY FOR KIM DAE JUNG TO PULL OUT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE AND FULFILL THE HOPES OF THE SOUTH KOREAN PEOPLE.
RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY (DJP) CANDIDATE ROH TAE WOO ADDRESSED CROWDS AT SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN SEOUL, INCLUDING A SLUM- AREA HOUSING PROJECTS, TO URGE VOTERS TO BACK HIS PRESIDENTIAL BID.
MEANWHILE, SOME 100,000 PEOPLE WERE 'MOBILIZED' TO ATTEND A RALLY TELEVISED LIVE BY THE STATE-RUN KBS-TV, TO DENOUNCE A SUSPECTED BOMBING OF A KOREAN AIR (KAL) PLANE BY NORTH KOREA. THE SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN STEPPING UP ITS ACCUSATIONS AGAINST PYONGYANG FOLLOWING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE BOEING 707 WITH 115 PEOPLE ON BOARD OVER THE ANDAMAN SEA NEAR BURMA ON NOVEMBER 29.
IN AN UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT, SOUTH KOREA'S CONSTRUCTION MINISTER LEE KYU HYO ANNOUNCED HE WAS LEAVING THE CABINET FOLLOWING A CONTROVERSY OVER HIS DEROGATORY STATEMENT CONCERNING THE NORTH CHOLLA PROVINCE.
LEE, COMMENTING ON THE DECEMBER 10 INCIDENT IN CHONJU WHEN ROH TAE WOO WAS FORCED TO CANCEL FOR THE FIRST TIME A CAMPAIGN APPEARANCE AFTER THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS ATTACKED THE RALLY SITE, SAID THAT THE DJP SHOULD DEAL WITH THE PROVINCE AFTER WINNING THE ELECTIONS.
THE CONSTRUCTION MINISTER MADE THE REMARK SATURDAY AT A CEREMONY TO OPEN A NEW HIGHWAY IN PUSAN, SPARKING CRITICISM FROM BOTH THE PUBLIC AND THE GOVERNMENT OF PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN.
THE CHOLLA REGION, LOYAL TO OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE KIM DAE JUNG, WAS THE SCENE OF THE 1980 KWANGJU ANTIGOVERNMENT UPRISING WHEN MANY LOCAL CITIZENS AND STUDENTS WERE KILLED BY GOVERNMENT TROOPS. ALTHOUGH OFFICIAL RECORDS PLACE THE NUMBER OF DEAD AT OVER 190, OPPOSITION GROUPS CLAIM FIGURES RANGING FROM 1,000 TO 2,000.
THE KWANGJU INCIDENT, WHICH WENT UNREPORTED BY THE GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED MEDIA, IS EXPECTED TO EMERGE AS A MAJOR ISSUE FOLLOWING THE ELECTIONS.
Document 721
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
DECEMBER 14, 1987, MONDAY
LENGTH: 654 words
HEADLINE: NEWS FOCUS ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; KOREAN ELECTION-MAN IN THE STREET
BYLINE: SUSAN MOFFAT
DATELINE: SEOUL, DEC. 14
BODY:
AS THE SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS COMES DOWN TO THE WIRE, THE STREETS OF SEOUL ARE PLASTERED WITH CAMPAIGN POSTERS AND FILLED WITH PARADES AND POLITICAL DISCUSSION.
TEAR GAS GRENADES, ROCKS, AND RUMORS OF A MILITARY COUP HAVE BEEN FLYING AS THE MESSY TASK OF ESTABLISHING DEMOCRACY CONTINUES. BUT TWO ENORMOUS SEOUL RALLIES BY GOVERNMENT CANDIDATES ROH TAE WOO AND OPPOSITION LEADER KIM DAE JUNG LAST WEEKEND GATHERED ABOUT A MILLION PEOPLE, EACH WITH ONLY MINIMAL DISRUPTION.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS, THE MAN IN THE STREET IS VOLUNTEERING HIS OPINION ON POLITICS TO STRANGERS. AT CAMPAIGN RALLIES CITIZENS GRAB FOREIGN REPORTERS BY THE ARM TO TELL THEM WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT THE CANDIDATES THEY LOVE OR HATE.
'KIM DAE JUNG IS THE ONLY MAN WHO CAN BRING AN END TO THE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP OF CHUN DOO HWAN. HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN BRING TRUE DEMOCRACY,' SAID CHUN CHOI SUN AT SUNDAY'S RALLY AT PORAMAE PARK.
TWO OF CHUN'S SONS ARE IN JAIL FOR THEIR POLITICAL ACTIVITIES, SHE SAID. HER HUSBAND AND HER FATHER-IN-LAW ARE MINERS WHO HAVE BEEN ACTIVE IN LABOR UNIONS SQUASHED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
SHE SITS AMONG A CROWD OF WOMEN AT THE FLOOT OF KIM DAE JUNG'S YELLOW THREE-STORY HIGH PODIUM. ALL HAVE SONS, DAUGHTERS, OR HUSBANDS WHO WERE JAILED, KILLED OR COMMITTED SUICIDE IN WHAT THEY CALL THE 'STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY.'
THESE WOMEN, LIKE MANY AMONG THE MILLION PEOPLE WEARING YELLOW HEADBANDS AND WAVING YELLOW BANNERS FOR KIM DAE JUNG ARE THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED UNDER THE CHUN AND PARK CHUNG HEE REGIMES. THEY FEEL LEFT OUT OF KOREA'S 'ECONOMIC MIRACLE' OR SACRIFICED IN ITS WAKE.
MANY SAY THEY BELIEVE KIM DAE JUNG, WHO HAS ALSO SUFFERED EXILE, IMPRISONMENT, AND THE THREAT OF DEATH UNDER THESE GOVERNMENTS WILL BRING THEM RELIEF.
PEOPLE AT ROH TAE WOO'S RALLY HAD A DIFFERENT VIEW.
'KOREA HAS MADE MUCH PROGRESS. WHAT WE NEED NOW IS STABILITY. I TRUST ROH TAE WOO,' SAID CHOO CHOI YUN, A MIDDLE AGED WOMAN WHO WORKS IN ADVERTISING.
WHILE KIM DAE JUNG'S RALLY WAS FILLED WITH DISPLAYS OF BLOODY PHOTOGRAPHS DEPICTING THE CARNAGE OF THE KWANGJU INCIDENT, WHERE AT LEAST 200 CIVILIANS WERE KILLED BY GOVERNMENT TROOPS, ROH'S RALLY FEATURED CHEERFUL BLUE FLAGS SPORTING A HAPPY-FACE MASCOT THAT RESEMBLES A TENNIS BALL WITH SUNBURST HALO.
ROH'S RALLY DISPERSED IN ABOUT AN HOUR, WITH OUTGOING FOOT TRAFFIC ON THE BRIDGE FROM THE VAST YOIDO PLAZA AS HEAVY AS THE INCOMING TRAFFIC.
SOME PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED SAID THEY HAD BEEN ASKED TO COME BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, AND SOME SAID THEY HAD FRIENDS WHO HAD BEEN PAID. BUT MANY SAID THEY HAD COME ON THEIR OWN BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT FOR 'STABILITY.'
IF KIM DAE JUNG REPRESENTS REFORM FOR THOSE WHO ABHOR THE STATUS QUO AND ROH TAE WOO REPRESENTS STABILITY FOR THOSE WHO ARE REASONABLY HAPPY, KIM YOUNG SAM REPRESENTS A CHANCE FOR MODERATE CHANGE FOR THOSE VOTERS WHO DISLIKE CHUN BUT FEAR THAT A KIM DAE JUNG VICTORY COULD ENCOURAGE A MILITARY REACTION.
'WHEN I WAS A STUDENT I SUPPORTED KIM DAE JUNG. BUT NOW I SEE MANY OF HIS IDEAS ARE NOT PRACTICAL,' SAID DAEWOO CONGLOMERATE.
'ROH TAE WOO SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE KWANGJU INCIDENT. BUT KIM DAE JUNG SHOULD NOT BECOME PRESIDENT -- IT WOULD CREATE CHAOS,' HE SAID AT A KIM YOUNG SAM RALLY ON MONDAY WHERE SUPPORTERS WERE FAR LESS INTENSE THAN KIM DAE JUNG'S CROWD, BUT GENERALLY ENTHUSIASTIC THAN THE PEOPLE AT ROH'S SATURDAY GATHERING.
'KIM YOUNG SAM IS BEST BECAUSE HE DOESN'T GET PEOPLE TOO EXCITED. HE'S AN EXPERIENCED MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT. HE'S THE KIND OF PRESIDENT KOREA NEEDS NOW,' SAID MOON SOONG JOO, A 31-YEAR OLD DENTAL TECHNICIAN.
NO CLEAR FRONT RUNNER HAS EMERGED IN THE RACE. BUT IT IS LIKELY THAT WHOEVER WINS WILL WIN BY A RELATIVELY SMALL MARGIN, WITH LESS THAN A MAJORITY OF VOTES. UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, SAY POLITICAL ANALYSTS HERE, THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE MAY GET EVEN LOUDER AFTER THE ELECTION.
Document 722
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
December 14, 1987, Monday, AM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 674 words
HEADLINE: Government warns of election violence
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
The government warned Monday that radicals will try to disrupt the nation's first direct presidential election in 16 years amid indications social unrest will continue no matter who wins.
The warning came as opposition candidate Paek Ki-wan tearfully dropped out of the campaign for Wednesday's election ''in order not to split the people's votes'' with the two leading opposition candidates, Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young-sam.
Paek, an ideological spearhead of anti-government students and dissidents, had negotiated to forge a united opposition behind one candidate, which Western analysts said would be a nearly certain way to beat government candidate Roh Tae-woo.
The two main opposition candidates have repeatedly called on the other to drop out but refused to do so himself. On Monday, Kim Young-sam again urged Kim Dae Jung to drop out of the first direct presidential election in 16 years, saying the ''general trend has already been decided in my favor.''
A sobbing Paek told reporters he would continue to pressure the two men to field one candidate in the election, which the government agreed to after violent protests last summer.
''I ask our people not to vote for government candidate Roh in any event because we must terminate military rule,'' Paek said.
There are now five candidates in the race -- Roh, the two Kims, former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil and Shin Jeong-il, leader of an indigenous religious cult.
Culture and Information Minister Lee Woong-hee said Monday the government had ''clear signs'' some radicals are manuevering to disturb polling and ballot counting with violence and other disruptions.
''All precautionary measure are being taken to prevent violence which might obstruct polling and ballot counting. If violence takes place, anybody involved will be arrested and dealt with sternly.''
Lee gave no specific information to back up his claim.
Spokesmen for the three main opposition parties and the National Coalition for Democracy, an influential dissident organization, charged the government with engaging in fraud.
''If the present situation continues, any kind of popular protests could erupt,'' they told a news conference. ''We urge government authorities to take immediate measures to insure a fair election.''
The three opposition parties -- Kim Young-sam's Reunification Democratic Party, Kim Dae Jung's Party for Peace and Democracy, and the New Democratic Republican Party -- formed a joint committee Sunday to fight ballot fraud.
Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young-sam have repeatedly said Roh, a former general and close ally of President Chun Doo Hwan, could not win without massive fraud.
Kim Dae Jung has threatened to spearhead anti-government protests if Roh wins. Korean and Western diplomats and observers are becoming more certain protests will break out if Roh wins.
Analysts also believe protests would erupt if Kim Young-sam won, spearheaded by ardent supporters of Kim Dae Jung, who controls the most ardent anti-government forces.
In another development, Chun sacked Construction Minister Lee Kyu-ho from his Cabinet for recommending opposition supporters be punished for staging a violent demonstration against Roh, forcing Roh to cancel a rally in Chonju, 125 miles south of Seoul and a political stronghold of Kim Dae Jung.
The comments were particularly explosive because of a 1980 uprising in the city of Kwangju, near Chonju, which the Chun government violently suppressed. At least 200 people were killed in the Kwangju uprising.
Charges of government bias were issued Monday by 30 reporters for the state-run Korean Broadcasting System who began a sit-in at their office.
In a statement, the reporters said KBS ''has become a publicity tool of a certain candidate in its reports concerning the Dec. 16 presidential election.'' Opposition parties have accused KBS of highlighting Roh's campaign in newscasts.
The reporters demanded that KBS apologize on its main broadcast at 9 p.m. for biased reporting and promise to report fairly in the future.
Document 723
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
December 9, 1987, Wednesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 410 words
HEADLINE: Dissidents urge withdrawal of ruling party's presidential candidate
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
South Korea's main dissident coalition today demanded that ruling party candidate Roh Tae-woo resign from the presidential election race because of the former general's role in a 1980 massacre of civilians.
''Roh, you must immediately give up your presidential candidacy,'' the influential National Coalition for Democracy said in a statement. ''That is the least you can do to reward the people's aspiration for democracy.
''The people really don't want to have a recurrance of the dictatorship of President Chun Doo Hwan ... by having Roh Tae-woo -- one of the masterminds of the Kwangju massacre and the Dec. 12 military coup - elected as the leader of the nation,'' the NCD statement said.
Dissidents say Roh took an active part in the 1979 coup that brought Chun to power. They also said Roh was deeply involved in the bloody crushing of a May 1980 civilian anti-government uprising in the southern city of Kwangju. The government says 192 people died in the riots, but dissidents say the number is far higher.
Students at major universities throughout the Korean capital planned mass rallies today to pressure two opposition presidential candidates into forming a united front against Roh.
On Tuesday, hundreds of students occupied the campaign headquarters of rival opposition presidential candidates Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young-sam demanding one of them drop out to assure an opposition victory in the election.
Also today, about 400 former soldiers announced the formation of a group to monitor the powerful South Korean military and make sure there is no army interference in the balloting.
Students and dissidents have been staging daily protests to obtain guarantees from the government that the elections will be held fairly. The Dec. 16 elections will be the first direct presidential balloting since 1971, when then-president Park Chung Hee won a new mandate, defeating leading dissident Kim Dae Jung.
Seven candidates are running in the presidential elections and four emerge as the main contenders.
Roh will represent a united outgoing majority while the opposition is still split between its two main leaders, Kim Young-sam, from the main opposition Reunification Democratic Party, and Kim Dae Jung representing Party for Peace and Democracy which he created after failing to agree with his rival on a single opposition andidate.
Former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil will run for the moderate New Democratic Republican Party.
Document 724
The Associated Press
December 8, 1987, Tuesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 742 words
HEADLINE: Students Occupy Opposition Offices to Demand Single Candidate
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Hundreds of radical students occupied the headquarters of the two main opposition parties today to demand they field a single presidential candidate.
About 200 students occupied the offices of the Reunification Democratic Party and 700 occupied the offices of the Party for Peace and Democracy in different parts of Seoul.
The students wore headbands saying "Single candidacy. End military rule" and chanted "Down with the military dictatorship" as they occupied rooms and brought activity to a standstill. Party officials stood by and watched.
The students demanded that Kim Young-sam, leader of Reunification Democratic Party, and Kim Dae-jung, leader of the Party for Peace and Democracy, agree that just one will run in the Dec. 16 election to ensure the government is defeated.
"We want just one candidate," said one of the students. "We want to defeat the government."
The two Kims split the opposition when they both insisted on running for president despite earlier promises just one of them would run. Some opposition supporters have been making last-ditch efforts to get them to agree on a single candidacy.
The students demanded a meeting with the two Kims and issued a Thursday morning deadline for choosing a single candidate. They did not say what action they would take if the deadline was not met.
Kim Young-sam said earlier today that the government realized it would be defeated in the elections and was in a state of panic.
He predicted he would win and criticized the government for failing to provide proper protection for him and his campaign.
"Frightened by the way our party is surging way ahead of it, the ruling party is at a loss and its organization is shaking from the bottom" with fear, he said during a tour of southern provincial areas.
No front-runner has emerged in the presidential race. The two Kims are thought to be running neck-and-neck with government candidate Roh Tae-woo.
The National Coalition for Democracy, a leading alliance of dissidents, called today for demonstrations across the country on Saturday to press for an end to military-backed rule.
Saturday is the anniversary of the Dec. 12, 1979 incident in which President Chun Doo-hwan, then a general, took command of the armed forces after a clash with senior generals. Chun became president with military backing the next year.
The alliance designated the week after Dec. 12 as "the week to win democracy and civil rights."
Also today, riot police opened fire with tear gas in Seoul to drive back several hundred students who tried to march off Sogang University after a rally calling for a fair and honest election.
Some students hurled rocks, but the protesters quickly dispersed.
Kim Dae-jung today told a rally in Inchon he would appoint a pannational Cabinet if he wins next week's elections.
Kim Dae-jung said he would select a prime minister from outside the ranks of his party and pledged that all "democratic forces" would be represented in his government. "We will seek political stability," he told the crowd of about 60,000 people.
The candidate also said he would investigate the handling of the 1980 anti-government Kwangju uprising in which at least 191 people were killed.
Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death on charges of fomenting the uprising, but the sentence was later dropped.
Roh and Chun, who were then top generals, were accused by dissidents of directing the military suppression of the uprising. Opposition candidates have used the Kwangju incident against Roh during the campaign.
Chun agreed to the first direct presidential elections in 16 years after massive anti-government riots in June. He is to step down Feb. 25 at the end of a seven-year term.
Roh today toured several markets in Seoul. He shook hands and talked with stall holders, promising to provide aid and tax breaks for small businesses if he is elected.
Kim Young-sam complained that police failed to protect him Monday when protesters shouting Kim Dae-jung's name attacked him with rocks and bottles during a campaign rally in Yosu. Kim Young-sam was forced to flee.
He said today there were at least 500 police on duty at the rally, but they did nothing despite the fact he was certain to win the elections.
National Police Headquarters in Seoul issued a statement today saying a claim by Kim Young-sam's Reunification Democratic Party that the protesters at the Yosu rally were police agents was "a fabrication."
Document 725
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
DECEMBER 2, 1987, WEDNESDAY
LENGTH: 380 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; PRESIDENTIAL TELEVISION CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF IN SOUTH KOREA
DATELINE: TOKYO, DEC. 2
BODY:
SOUTH KOREA'S HEATED PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MOVED INTO A NEW DIMENSION WEDNESDAY AS THE NATION'S FOUR LEADING CONTENDERS SHIFTED THEIR BATTLEGROUND TO THE NATION'S TELEVISION SCREENS.
IN A COUNTRY WHERE TELEVISIONS ARE EVER PRESENT AND EACH HOUSEHOLD BOASTS THAN ONE SET, CAMPAIGNING OVER THE AIRWAVES IS EXPECTED TO ADD COLOR TO THE CONTEST WHICH CLIMAXES WITH ELECTION DAY DECEMBER 16.
ONLY TWO OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, RULING PARTY CANDIDATE ROH TAE WOO AND KIM DAE JUNG, LEADER OF THE NEWLY-FORMED PARTY FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY, APPEARED IN PERSON TO RECORD 20- MINUTE CAMPAIGN SPEECHES SCHEDULED FOR BROADCAST ON SEPARATE NETWORKS LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
ROH, DRESSED IN A DARK BLUE SUIT, TOLD VIEWERS HE WAS EMBARRASSED ABOUT PAST INCIDENTS, INCLUDING THE DEATH BY TORTURE OF A SEOUL UNIVERSITY STUDENT LATE LAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO PARTY AIDES.
HE ALSO WARNED THAT THE NATION'S SECURITY WOULD BE THREATENED IF THE OPPOSITION WON THE ELECTION, ADDING THAT THE FUTURE OF SOUTH KOREA MUST FOLLOW A DIFFERENT COURSE PURSUED BY THE PHILIPPINES, VIETNAM AND SOUTH AFRICA.
KIM DAE JUNG DONNED A WESTERN SUIT INSTEAD OF HIS USUAL TRADITIONAL KOREAN DRESS, AIDES SAID.
THEY ADDED THAT THE OPPOSITION LEADER MADE AN EMOTIONAL PITCH IN HIS PRERECORDED ADDRESS, DESCRIBING A TEARFUL REUNION WITH MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY AFTER HE WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HIS ROLE IN INSTIGATING UNREST WHICH LED TO THE KWANGJU UPRISING IN 1980.
THE NEW DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN PARTY OPENED THE START OF THE TELEVISION CAMPAIGN IN THE MORNING WITH A 20-MINUTE SPEECH CALLING ON VOTERS TO BACK KIM JONG PIL. A SPEAKER REPRESENTING THE REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY WILL ALSO APPEAR IN A TELEVISION SLOT SCHEDULED IN BETWEEN ROH AND KIM'S.
UNDER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LAW, POLITICAL PARTIES ARE LIMITED TO 10 TELEVISION AND 10 RADIO POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS EACH, WHILE CANDIDATES ARE ALLOWED ONLY FIVE PERSONAL APPEARANCES ON EACH MEDIA.
THE ADVENT OF TELEVISION INTO SOUTH KOREAN POLITICS IS ALSO EXPECTED TO BE COSTLY ONE.
ALTHOUGH THE CENTRAL ELECTION MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE WILL PAY FOR THE INITIAL BROADCASTS, POLITICAL PARTIES WILL BE FOOTING THE REMAINING COSTS WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO RUN AS HIGH AS 55 MILLION WON OR 70,000 DOLLARS FOR TELEVISION TIME.
Document 726
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
DECEMBER 1, 1987, TUESDAY
LENGTH: 507 words
HEADLINE: roundup: tension rising in wake of south korean presidential elections
BYLINE: by zhu kechuan
DATELINE: pyongyang, december 1; ITEM NO: 1
BODY:
south korea's first direct presidential elections since 1971 have entered its hottest stage as the candidates are doing their utmost in canvassing, trumpeting policies and attacking the weak points of their opponents. eight candicates are fielded to the one-month election campaign which started on november 16. candidate of the ruling democratic justice party (djp) ro tae woo's policy is to open up "a great era of ordinary people" and to "develop economy in stability." he took the advantage of the ruling party to mobilize publicly and inwardly the administrative organs in canvassing. ro, backed by his party's abundant financial resources, is staging a campaign on a larger scale than any of those poorer opposition candidates. a newspaper in seoul said the djp had already spent as much as 18.8 million u.s. dollars for the presidential campaign before november 16. on the opposition side, both kim dae jung, candidate of the party for peace and democracy, and kim young sam, candidate of the reunification democratic party, enjoy a good political fame for their bravery in the struggles against chun du hwan's autocratic rule and for social democratization. both kims are striving for democracy. kim young sam said no one but he can stop the current military rule, while another kim claimed that he is the only person able to form a democratic government. however, they are representing different parties, and those who wanted to vote for either of them now has only one choice to make. the fatal weakness for ro tae woo in the forthcoming election is that he took part in chun doo hwan's 1980 military coup. the supporters of kim dae jung described ro as a murderer in the kwangju anti-government uprising in may 1980. in that uprising, some 200 people were reportedly suppressed by army troops. to defeat ro in the election, kim young sam, president of reunification democratic party, has asked some military officials who were driven out of their offices in that coup to expose how ro tae woo and chun doo hwan suppressed the kwangju uprising. meanwhile, students in seoul and other places have held many rallies and demonstrations demanding ro tae woo's withdrawal from his running for the presidency. they always shouted such a slogan as "down with the military dictatorship". while alleging a just election, the kim chung-yul government ordered the seoul police authorties to search and seize the places which the opposition supporters have used to print materials concerning ro tae woo's activities in the military coup. many anti-ro students have been arrested by the police. with the election day approaching, a war for winning presidency is expected to be further intensifying among the three candidates, ro tae woo, kim dae jung, and kim young sam. like the elections in the past, all of the three will try to use their respective local feelings to win the presidency. each of them is expected to have an absolute predominance of vote in the hometowns, provinces and cities where they are working.
Document 727
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
DECEMBER 1, 1987, TUESDAY
LENGTH: 507 words
HEADLINE: roundup: tension rising during south korean presidential elections
BYLINE: by zhu kechuan
DATELINE: pyongyang, december 1; ITEM NO: 1
BODY:
south korea's first direct presidential elections since 1971 have entered its hottest stage as the candidates are doing their utmost in canvassing, trumpeting policies and attacking the weak points of their opponents. eight candicates are fielded to the one-month election campaign which started on november 16. candidate of the ruling democratic justice party (djp) ro tae woo's policy is to open up "a great era of ordinary people" and to "develop economy in stability." he took the advantage of the ruling party to mobilize publicly and inwardly the administrative organs in canvassing. ro, backed by his party's abundant financial resources, is staging a campaign on a larger scale than any of those poorer opposition candidates. a newspaper in seoul said the djp had already spent as much as 18.8 million u.s. dollars for the presidential campaign before november 16. on the opposition side, both kim dae jung, candidate of the party for peace and democracy, and kim young sam, candidate of the reunification democratic party, enjoy a good political fame for their bravery in the struggles against chun du hwan's autocratic rule and for social democratization. both kims are striving for democracy. kim young sam said no one but he can stop the current military rule, while another kim claimed that he is the only person able to form a democratic government. however, they are representing different parties, and those who wanted to vote for either of them now has only one choice to make. the fatal weakness for ro tae woo in the forthcoming election is that he took part in chun doo hwan's 1980 military coup. the supporters of kim dae jung described ro as a murderer in the kwangju anti-government uprising in may 1980. in that uprising, some 200 people were reportedly suppressed by army troops. to defeat ro in the election, kim young sam, president of reunification democratic party, has asked some military officials who were driven out of their offices in that coup to expose how ro tae woo and chun doo hwan suppressed the kwangju uprising. meanwhile, students in seoul and other places have held many rallies and demonstrations demanding ro tae woo's withdrawal from his running for the presidency. they always shouted such a slogan as "down with the military dictatorship". while alleging a just election, the kim chung-yul government ordered the seoul police authorties to search and seize the places which the opposition supporters have used to print materials concerning ro tae woo's activities in the military coup. many anti-ro students have been arrested by the police. with the election day approaching, a war for winning presidency is expected to be further intensifying among the three candidates, ro tae woo, kim dae jung, and kim young sam. like the elections in the past, all of the three will try to use their respective local feelings to win the presidency. each of them is expected to have an absolute predominance of vote in the hometowns, provinces and cities where they are working.
Document 728
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
NOVEMBER 30, 1987, MONDAY
LENGTH: 197 words
HEADLINE: s. korean ruling party candidate attacked in kwangju
DATELINE: pyongyang, november 30; ITEM NO: 1
BODY:
south korean ruling party presidential candidate ro tae-woo met strong protests again yesterday while making a campaign speech in the southern city of kwangju, according to reports from seoul. tens of thousands of anti-government protesters, chanting "down with ro tae-woo," hurled rocks and firebombs at him, as he rode in a bullet-proof car and attempted to hold a rally at kwangju railway station. under heavy protection from security guards, ro called on kwangju residents to take a cooperative view towards the 1980 kwangju incident. however, protesters attacked the rally throwing home-made tear gas grenades, sticks, firebombs and rocks. some rushed to the rostrum to fight with the rally organizers. ro spoke for only about 10 minutes before leaving the rally in an open car through a crowd estimated at 40,000. ro had participated in the 1980 suppression of a people's uprising in kwangju in which students and residents opposing the military coup were killed. yesterday's strong protest indicates that local people are still hostile towards him. ro made a campaign stop in kwangju on october 21 during which time he was attacked by tear gas grenades and eggs.
Document 729
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
NOVEMBER 29, 1987, SUNDAY
LENGTH: 198 words
HEADLINE: south koreans demand explanations of kwangju incident
DATELINE: pyongyang, november 29; ITEM NO: 1
BODY:
south koreans saturday took to the street in seoul, kwangju and other cities to demand that the authorities clarify the truth about the kwangju incident, reports reaching here said today. in seoul, the demonstrators distributed leaflets making the demand. in kwangju, students waged a stone-throwing battle with police. the kwangju incident took place in 1980 when the authorities sent military force to suppress demonstrators calling for democracy. as a result, many people were killed and an uproar followed throughout south korea. in inchon city, people threw tear-gas bombs, which did not explode, at roh tae woo, presidential candidate of the ruling democratic justice party, who was drumming up support in the presidential election to be held in december. as the presidential race is in its climax, some opposition party candidates and people at large demanded that the regime clarify the truth about the kwangju incident, a contraversial issue among the presidential candidates, either from the ruling or opposition parties. south korea authorities have beefed up efforts to pin down the mass struggles by banning rallies, searching for and confiscating publications.
Document 730
The Associated Press
November 28, 1987, Saturday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 697 words
HEADLINE: Riot Police Break Up Protests, Attack On Government Candidate
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
A youth hurled a tear gas grenade at government presidential candidate Roh Tae-woo Saturday, and thousands of riot police broke up demonstrations in Seoul and other cities in a major show of strength.
Protesters shouted "Execute Roh!"
The grenade missed Roh, at a rally in the port of Inchon outside Seoul, and failed to go off. Officials said it glanced off a campaign aide.
Scores of police seized the attacker and dragged him away.
Thousands of police were guarding Roh after reports that radical students would stage an attack. He has escaped a series of assaults with firebombs, rocks and tear gas at campaign rallies prior to Dec. 16 presidential elections.
Police declined to discuss Saturday's attack.
Kim Young-sam, a major opposition candidate, told a rally in Taegu that the government was using bribery and corruption to try to win the elections.
Korean news reports estimated the turnout for Kim at 600,000 people. Opposition officials said 1 million people had attended.
About 20,000 riot police were deployed across the country Saturday after the National Coalition for Democracy called for protests in 26 cities to demand that Roh quit the race.
Violence erupted in Kwangju, Chonju and Chongju. Dozens of people were arrested as police used tear gas and protesters attacked offices of the governing Democratic Justice Party.
Still, the rallies attracted relatively small audiences and there were no protests in many of the designated cities.
The few hundred people who showed up for the protest in central Seoul were swamped by 5,000 riot police ringing the park where the meeting was to be held.
Riot police swept up and down sidewalks as protesters attempted to gather in the street outside the park.
"Execute Roh Tae-woo!" and "Punish Roh Tae-woo!,' protesters shouted.
About 12 coalition leaders and supporters were dragged into a police bus and taken away when they tried to enter the park. Police later arrested about 15 people in sidewalk scuffles.
The protesters scattered leaflets demanding Roh be punished for the bloody suppression by government forces of the Kwangju uprising in 1980. Roh was a general at the time and helped President Chun Doo-hwan take power that year with military backing.
Police tear gas dispersed about 200 students Saturday who hurled firebombs and rocks in an anti-Roh protest in Kwangju.
Dozens of youths attacked two offices of the government party in Chongju with rocks and firebombs. They smashed dozens of windows and gutted one office.
About 30 people were arrested in Taejon at a coalition rally. Three people were arrested in street demonstrations in Chonju, the coalition said.
Coalition officials said about 20 people were arrested for trying to stage a protest in Kangnung.
A rally by opposition candidate Kim Jong-pil in Pusan was disrupted briefly when a young man leapt onto the dias, cut his finger and wrote a slogan in blood denouncing the Korea Broadcasting System.
Opposition supporters contend the state-owned network slanted its coverage to favor Roh.
"Roh Tae-woo, Roh Tae-woo!," aoout 40,000 spectators chanted at Inchon as Roh attacked the opposition, charging it would plunge the country into chaos.
Roh said he would establish diplomatic relations with China and ensure regional peace if elected. China is among the main backers of archrival communist North Korea.
Kim Dae-jung, the other main opposition candidate besides Kim Young-sam, told a news conference Saturday that if elected he would disband the country's main intelligence agency, the National Security Planning Agency.
He said the agency had bribed his secretary to write a book that libeled him with false political charges. He gave no details.
The two Kims split the opposition by both insisting on running for president despite fears they will boost Roh's election chances.
Chun bowed to opposition demands for the first direct presidential elections in 16 years after massive anti-government protests in June. He is to step down Feb. 25 at the end of his seven-year term.
The opposition had contended that the previous electoral college system of choosing a president favored the party in power.
Document 731
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
November 22, 1987, Sunday, BC cycle
ADVANCED-DATE: November 19, 1987, Thursday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 1052 words
HEADLINE: The past is on trial in South Korea's election campaign
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Roh Tae-woo strut onto the stage with his thumbs in the air as the band struck up his favorite song, a Spanish tune by the name of ''Kiss Me Much.'' Outside, critics of the ruling party's candidate unfurled a banner saying ''Execute the murderer.''
But the former general pressed ahead with his speech at a recent Seoul rally, trying to put the best face on a campaign that has sunk into violence over his role in the 1979 coup bringing President Chun Doo Hwan to power.
The first popular presidential election in 16 years, scheduled to choose Chun's successor Dec. 16, has become a referendum on the past, assessing the two military-backed governments that have ruled since 1961 and the record of opposition leaders who stood up against them.
Each major candidate is seeking public vindication of his past actions, presenting competing versions of recent South Korean history and his role in it and asking the voters to approve his version of events.
The run up to the election also has become a forum to air political and regional differences. Violent clashes have broken out at rallies for all major candidates.
The four top candidates are Roh, dissident leader Kim Dae Jung, opposition party president Kim Young-sam and former prime minister Kim Jong-pil.
Roh was instrumental in Chun's rise to power, transferring troops under his command from the North Korean border to Seoul on Dec. 12, 1979 to back the ''mini-coup'' that ousted the army chief of staff and 30 other generals.
Because of that support and the high posts he has held since 1980, Roh is tied to abuses that marked the Chun regime, which Roh now admits have included violation of human rights, torture, and the suppression of freedom of expression, the press and labor.
He has promised to ''democratize'' South Korea and argues he is the proper man for the job because he understands the military establishment - known in political circles as the ''veto group.'' If the military threatened another coup, he says, he could control it.
Roh also is working to soften his image by trumpeting his key role in convincing Chun to allow direct elections during violent protests last spring. Campaign posters show him listening to a little girl, shaking hands and kissing babies like a politician, not a retired South Korean general.
In stark contrast, Kim Dae Jung presents himself as the man who has ''suffered the most'' under the Chun government through repeated jailings, a death sentence and an assassination attempt.
He is also the living symbol of the ''Kwangju incident,'' a 1980 uprising in that city sparked by his arrest during Chun's drive for power. Troops crushed the revolt, killing, by official account, nearly 200 people. Opposition leaders say the number was far higher.
Kim Young-sam, president of the main opposition Reunification Democratic Party, presents himself as a bridge from the past to the future, a moderate civilian politician who can deal with dissidents and the military.
The two Kims, as they are known, recently split over the question of which of them should challenge Roh, leaving the opposition fractured with less than 30 days to go before balloting.
The fourth main candidate is Kim Jong-pil, the self-professed ''coup-maker'' behind President Park Chung-hee who came to power May 16, 1961 and became head of the Korean CIA.
Kim Jong-pil argues that he and his political contemporaries were responsible for laying the groundwork for South Korea's stunning industrialization, and that they were about to begin to liberalize the government before Chun and his upstart comrades struck in 1979.
Kim Jong-pil entered the race saying it was time to give the people an opportunity to ''vindicate my honor'' by casting their ballots for him. Political analysts give him little chance of winning.
''There are plenty of promises being made,'' says a Western diplomat, ''but the key here is a referendum of sorts on the military role here in the future. Sort of a referendum on how this society has changed.''
The candidates recognize that the reality of politics in South Korea has changed over the past two decades as the population has become more affluent, educated and dominated by youth. Fear of the communist north is no longer the central factor in Korean politics. Jobs, the quality of life, and personal freedoms -- or the lack of them -- dominate today's concerns.
Forty-eight percent of eligible voters are below 35. South Korea's literacy rate is about 98 percent and it has one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Recognizing all this, the candidates have injected some of the qualities of a U.S.-style election into their campaigns, with catchy campaign slogans, long question-and-answer sessions with reporters, blitzkrieg stumping and mass rallies.
Roh is running a campaign of the ''ordinary man,'' saying he will improve the living standards of the growing middle class and continue to press the nation's economic expansion.
Not to be outdone, Kim Dae Jung named his party the Party for Peace and Democracy, whose Korean-character acronym translates into ''common people's party.''
While the campaign is the first freely contested presidential race since 1971, officials are attempting to contain campaign frenzy with a long list of regulations.
It is illegal, for example, to announce the results of ''straw polls'' or ''mock balloting,'' and college students have been arrested recently for violating the law. It is legal for polling firms to measure public opinion on presidential preferences but not to announce results.
It is illegal to make ''advertisements praising or slandering the achievements of the government'' or to hold signature campaigns during the election period.
The violence that has plagued the candidates at outdoor rallies has involved rock and egg throwing and, in one instance, students threw firebombs at Roh's motorcade. But there have been few injuries and no deaths reported in the campaign.
The fear of violence, however, has prompted high government officials to issue veiled warnings about crackdowns if further turmoil erupts.
''The momentum seems to be unstoppable now,'' said one Western diplomat, referring to the violence. ''There will be more of it, but it looks like the election will come off as scheduled.''
Document 732
The Associated Press
October 21, 1987, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 633 words
HEADLINE: Presidential Candidate Hit With Eggs, Assaulted With Tear Gas
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
The governing party's presidential candidate was hit in the face with eggs and assaulted with tear gas Wednesday during campaign stops in an opposition stronghold.
Candidate Roh Tae-woo yelled back at the assailants that he would not be intimidated and later joked that he considered the eggs "the spice of democracy."
The attacks on Roh were the first such incidents in the campaign leading up to presidential elections in December.
Bodyguards had to rush Roh to safety at least four times when protesters pelted him with eggs or lobbed tear gas grenades as he spoke around the southern city of Kwangju.
Witnesses said that Roh, the head of the governing Democratic Justice Party, appeared startled but was not hurt.
In downtown Kwangju, about 300 students protesting Roh's visit hurled firebombs and clashed with riot police for an hour. Roh's motorcade did not apear to have been near that clash.
Kwangju, 165 miles south of Seoul, was the site of a bloody uprising in 1980. Dissident groups say Roh, a general at the time, helped crush the revolt in which hundreds of government opponents were killed.
Roh is running as the government candidate in the first direct presidential elections in 16 years. President Chun Doo-hwan agreed to opposition demands for direct elections after massive protests in June.
Roh said he traveled to Kwangju in an effort to erase the legacy of the uprising. Roh's speeches were seen as peace offerings. In the past, the government has portrayed those involved in the rebellion as "unpardonable rebels."
The worst incident Wednesday came during a campaign halt outside Kwangju when tear gas grenades were hurled at Roh as he was talking in a marketplace.
The grenades exploded at Roh's feet, sending out choking clouds of tear gas. Frightened onlookers screamed and scrambled to get away.
"I am determined to achieve democratization undauntedly," Roh yelled as bodyguards hustled him away.
Yonhap, the Korean news agency, reported that police said none of the attackers were caught.
Earlier in Kwangju, Roh was hit in the face and chest by eggs as he walked to the city's gymnasium to address a rally of the his party's youth wing.
"Punish the main culprit in the Kwangju incident. How dare you come to Kwangju?" the protesters yelled as they chucked eggs.
Roh smiled and waved as he entered the gymnasium to indicate he was not hurt. The protesters also sprinkled tear gas powder into the crowd around the building and tossed handfuls of anti-government leaflets into the air.
Roh later joked to accompanying reporters: "I saw a few eggs flying. I consider them the spice of democracy."
Witnesses said dozens of protesters were dragged away by police and forced onto police buses. Police declined to say how many people were detained.
Two other similar attacks occurred against Roh on Wednesday, witnesses said.
Many of the protesters said they were survivors or relatives of victims of the 1980 uprising.
The government says about 200 people were killed when townspeople and students staged a rebellion that was suppressed by the military. Dissidents contend the death toll was around 2,000.
At the time, President Chun was a general. He seized power with Roh's backing later that year.
In his speech at the Kwangju Gymnasium, Roh said he wanted to rehabilitate those involved in the incident.
Later, during a meeting with a group of relatives of victims of the uprising, Roh promised to build a memorial tower to honor those killed in the incident. He also promised to consider relatives' demand for financial compensation.
In Seoul Wednesday, about 60 students with firebombs attacked a police station and clashed with riot police. The students accused the government of going back on its earleir promise of democratic reforms.
GRAPHIC: LaserPhoto SEL5
Document 733
The Associated Press
October 21, 1987, Wednesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 383 words
HEADLINE: Government Presidential Candidate Bombarded With Tear Gas and Eggs
BYLINE: By M.H. AHN, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Government presidential candidate Roh Tae-woo was pelted with tear gas grenades and eggs today during a campaign visit to an anti-government stronghold.
Roh was attacked twice but not injured during his visit to the southern city of Kwangju, scene of a 1980 anti-government uprising that was suppressed by the army. Roh was a general at the time and has been accused of helping to quash the revolt.
Police hustled Roh to safety when unidentified protesters hurled tear gas grenades as he was speaking during a campaign stop in Yongkwang outside Kwangju, 165 miles south of Seoul.
The grenades exploded with sharp blasts at Roh's feet, sending out choking clouds of tear gas. Frightened onlookers screamed and scrambled to get away.
"I am determined to achieve democratization," yelled Roh as he was hustled away by bodyguards.
None of the assailants was caught, Yonhap, the Korean news agency, reported.
The tear gas attack followed an incident earlier in the day in Kwangju when Roh was hit in the face and chest by eggs hurled by dozens of irate protesters.
"Down with Roh," the protesters yelled.
Roh was hit by the eggs as he walked to the Kwangju gymnasiun to address a rally of his governing Democratic Justice Party.
Roh smiled and waved as he entered the gymnasium to indicate he was not hurt, although he appeared startled. The protesters also sprinkled tear gas powder into the crowd.
Witnesses said dozens of protesters were arrested by police.
After the egg attack, Roh joked to accompanying reporters that "I saw a few eggs flying. I consider them the spice of democracy."
The attacks were the first during the presidential campaign.
The protesters said they were survivors or relatives of victims of the 1980 Kwangju uprising.
The government says some 191 people were killed when townspeople and students staged the 1980 rebellion that was suppressed by the military. However, dissidents contend the death toll was around 2,000.
President Chun Doo-hwan was a general at the time and he seized power with military backing later that year. Roh help install Chun in power.
Roh is running as the government candidate in the first direct presidential elections in 16 years. Chun agreed to opposition demands for direct elections after nationwide protests in June.
Document 734
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
OCTOBER 21, 1987, WEDNESDAY
LENGTH: 189 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; EGGS HURLED AT SOUTH KOREAN DEMOCRATIC JUSTIC PARTY (DJP) LEADERROH TAE WOO
DATELINE: KWANGJU, SOUTH KOREA, OCT. 21
BODY:
SOME 30 TO 40 SOUTH KOREANS WHO LOST THEIR RELATIVES IN THE 1980 KWANGJU UPRISING HURLED EGGS WEDNESDAY AT RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ROH TAE WOO.
ONE EGG HIT ROH AND SMEARED HIS CLOTHES BUT HE TOOK IT IN STRIDE.
THE EGG THROWING INCIDENT OCCURRED NEAR THE ENTRANCE TO A GYMNASIUM IN KWANGJU AS HE ARRIVED TO ATTEND A MEETING ON THE FORMATION OF A YOUTH VOLUNTEERS GROUP.
ABOUT 30 TO 40 KOREANS WHOSE RELATIVES WERE AMONG THAN 180 PEOPLE KILLED IN THE MAY 1980 UPRISING AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT STOOD OUTSIDE THE ENTRANCE AND HURLED EGGS AT ROH SHOUTING, "PUNISH THE RINGLEADER" OF THAT INCIDENT.
FOUR OR FIVE PEOPLE TRIED TO RUSH THE DJP LEADER BUT WERE BLOCKED BY POLICE.
DURING THE INDOOR MEETING, TWO WOMEN SHOUTED "ROH, GET OUT."
ABOUT 20 CITIZENS ALSO DEMONSTRATED IN THE CITY'S MAIN STREET BUT RIOT POLICE FIRED TEAR GAS AND DISPERSED THEM.
ROH, WHO CANCELED A SCHEDULED INSPECTION TOUR OF THE CITY, SAID HE WILL PRESS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MEMORIAL TOWER FOR VICTIMS OF THE UPRISING, COMPENSATION FOR THE VICTIMS' FAMILIES AND HELP FOR THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT.
Document 735
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
SEPTEMBER 10, 1987, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 339 words
HEADLINE: commentary: rho tae-woo seeks support from washington
BYLINE: by guo quanyou
DATELINE: beijing, september 10; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
seoul announced tuesday that ruling democratic justice party (djp) president rho tae-woo will pay a week-long visit to the united states beginning september 13. the apparent intent is to seek support for the party's victory in presidential elections. rho will hold a series of talks with president ronald reagan and secretary of state george shultz on south korea's political development and other issues of common concern. his visit to washington comes as south korea is in a transitional period. large-scale student demonstrations for democracy last june have left their mark; workers demanding higher wages have been staging strikes for two months; the increasingly intensive struggle between the authorities and the opposition on constitutional reform has left the political system in an uproar. the djp and the main opposition reunification democratic party (rdp) have been holding negotiations on constitutional reform since july 31. the two sides have reached some agreement on such issues as the timetable for a presidential election and the possible shift of power to a new ruling party. rho graduated from u.s. army special warfare school and later joined the u.s.-vietnamese war on the u.s. side. he was elected last july djp chief. he is generally believed to have been influenced by u.s. policies. in south korea, he still carries the image of "a soldier with a bloody knife" as he ordered armed forces to kill and wound several thousand people in the 1980 kwangju uprising. rho hopes to improve this image during his washington visit. economically, u.s.-south korean trade friction is increasing as south korea has been dumping goods in the u.s. market after the depreciation of the u.s. dollar. militarily, seoul urgently wants the u.s. to increase its military assistance and provide advanced arms. also, some problems about hosting of the 1988 seoul olympic games are yet to be resolved. rho needs more support from the u.s. and and it remains to be seen if his washington visit can pull it off.
Document 736
The Associated Press
September 8, 1987, Tuesday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 610 words
HEADLINE: Kim Dae-jung Begins Emotional Visit to His Home Province
BYLINE: By C.W. LIM, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Opposition leader Kim Dae-jung made an emotional return to his home province Tuesday for first time since being released from jail for a 1980 anti-government rebellion in the region.
More than 300,000 people greeted Kim enthusiastically, shouting his name and waving banners that referred to him as "Leader of the Nation." Kwangju, a city of 800,000 people, was plastered with his portraits and welcome signs.
Kim, 61, traveled to Mangwoldong Cemetery, where he wept at the graves of people killed in the Kwangju anti-government rebellion and eulogized their sacrifice for demoracy.
"Before long, we will have a democratic government and the Kwangju uprising will then be reilluminated and treated correctly," Kim said during a one-hour memorial ceremony.
Kim arrived by train in Kwangju, the capital of south Cholla province, for a two-day visit, his first in 16 years. He was scheduld to leave Wednesday for his hometown of Haei, 50 miles away.
Kim drew the death penalty for inciting the Kwangju rebellion, in which about 200 people were killed and more than 800 others injured. Dissident sources claim the death toll was much higher.
After Washignton's intervention, his death sentence was reduced to life and then to a 20-year term. Under a dramatic government policy change for democracy, Kim was pardoned in July and his civil rights were restored.
The trip also was important for Kim who is vying with his political rival Kim Young-sam for the presidential nomination of the main opposition party. During his trip home, Kim Dae-jung plans to muster strong public support for his presidential bid.
"It is through your support and struggle for democracy that I, who was condemned to death by the military in 1980, can be here with you today," he said in a highly emotional eulogy to the Kwangju victims.
Aides said the opposition leader had not been able to visit his home province for so long because he had been imprisoned or exiled during must of the past 16 years.
Kim accused the government of President Chun Doo-hwan of trying to renege on its promise to bring democracy to South Korea, but he said the effort would not succeed.
"I am convinced democracy will be realized and the masses will become victors," Kim said. "Although the Chun regime is trying to reverse history ... they will never succeed. We, the people, armed with the noble spirit of the deceased souls, will resolutely frustrate it."
Kim said he was confident that his main opposition Reunification Democratic Party, of which he is a standing adviser, will succeed Chun, who has promised to step down at the end of his current term in February.
"The pain and agony of the Kwangju incident will disappear when a new democratic government emerges next February," Kim said, alluding to his party's victory in presidential elections expected later this year.
Kim, with a wreath of flowers around his neck, also spoke to tens of thousands of people gathered in the city center.
"The military dictatorship will soon succumb to unflinching democratic forces," he said.
Kim said the days of military intervention in South Korean politics were over, but he warned against making demands that Chun and other government leaders be punished for such incidents as the Kwangju uprising.
"I cannot forgive the bad institution but I can forgive people involved," Kim said. "I have firm opposition to any political retaliation. I advocate generosity for the men who did evil work in the past," he said.
Riding in a sedan with his wife, Kim made a thumbs-up gesture, responding to flag-waving crowds who cheered him from sidestreets, windows, telephone booths and trees.
Document 737
The Associated Press
September 8, 1987, Tuesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 545 words
HEADLINE: Opposition Leader Weeps At Uprising Victims' Graves
BYLINE: By C.W. LIM, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Opposition leader Kim Dae-jung wept today at the graves of people killed in a 1980 anti-government uprising and told thousands of supporters South Korea will soon be a democracy.
Kim, shaking with grief, denounced the government of President Chun Doo-hwan and said the nation would honor the sacrifices of those killed in the Kwangju rebellion.
"Kwangju has not died. Kwangju is alive and will continue to fight for democracy in this land," Kim said during a memorial ceremony at a cemetery outside Kwangju.
Kim broke down and sobbed several times as he thanked the hundreds of victims in the Kwangju uprising who he said "gave the regime of (President) Chun Doo-hwan no choice" but to yield to demands for change.
About 300,000 cheering people turned out to greet Kim as he arrived in Kwangju by train at the start of a two-day tour.
It was Kim's first visit to his native south Cholla province in 16 years. He was in exile or imprisoned during much of that time.
Kim's 20-car motorcade inched along main boulevards filled with cheering crowds shouting "Kim Dae-jung" and waving national flags and banners reading "Leader of the nation."
Kim smiled and waved to the crowds as he drove to the cemetery and later into the city center. Thousands of riot police were posted around but no clashes or disturbances were reported.
Thousands of students chanting anti-government slogans later gathered in the center of town as hundreds of riot police in green combat uniforms and black visored helmets faced them.
"Down with the military dictatorship," the students shouted.
At the cemetery, Kim recounted how he had been imprisoned and mistreated during the uprising. He said he did not learn of the rebellion until weeks after it was put down by the military.
The government says about 200 people were killed. Opposition groups claim the death toll was closer to 2,000.
Kim charged the government was trying to renege on its promise to introduce full democracy. However, he added: "I am convinced democracy will be realized and the masses will become victors."
More than 40,000 people went to the cemetery for the ceremony. Kim and his wife placed yellow flowers on the graves and embraced relatives of the dead.
Kim was sentenced to death by a military court in 1980 for fomenting the rebellion in this anti-government stronghold. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment under international pressure and later suspended.
He told the crowd that "through your support and your struggle for democracy" he had been spared execution.
Kim accused the government of trying to provoke new unrest and violence to allow it to reimpose authoritarian policies. But he said the days of military intervention in politics were over.
Chun accepted opposition demands for direct presidential elections and other reforms in June after anti-government demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people. Chun, a former general who took power in 1980 with military backing, is to step down in February. Presidential elections are expected in December.
Kim is hoping the trip to South Cholla will help bolster his chances of being selected as the opposition presidential candidate. He has been vying for the position with fellow opposition leader Kim Young-sam.
Document 738
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
AUGUST 8, 1987, SATURDAY
LENGTH: 274 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; KIM DAE JUNG JOINS REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY
DATELINE: SEOUL, AUG. 8
BODY:
LEADING OPPOSITIONIST KIM DAE JUNG CALLED SATURDAY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EQUAL INTER-KOREAN PARTNERSHIP AND FOR PEACEFUL RELATIONS BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH.
KIM SPOKE AT A CEREMONY AFTER JOINING THE NO. 1 OPPOSITION REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY AS ITS STANDING ADVISER.
SPELLING OUT HIS POLICY ON POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND SECURITY AFFAIRS, KIM SAID HE WILL FIGHT FOR EXPANDING LOCAL AUTOMONY AND IMPROVING LIVING CONDITIONS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
KIM SAID HE WILL CONTINUE EFFORTS TO SECURE THE RELEASE OF SOME 200 POLITICAL PRISONERS STILL BEING DETAINED.
RDP PRESIDENT KIM YOUNG SAM SAID ALL DEMOCRATIC FORCES ARE UNITED NOW THAT KIM DAE JUNG HAS JOINED THE PARTY, AND VOWED TO PUT UP A SINGLE CANDIDATE FROM THE OPPOSITION CAMP IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION EXPECTED LATER THIS YEAR.
BOTH KIMS ARE VYING FOR THE NOMINATION AS PARTY CANDIDATE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WHICH WILL DETERMING THE SUCCESSOR TO PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN, WHOSE SINGLE SEVEN-YEAR TERM OF OFFICE IS DUE TO END NEXT FEBRUARY.
KIM DAE JUNG, WHO IS RESUMING POLITICAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS, RECOVERED HIS CIVIL RIGHTS AFTER AN AMNESTY FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS ON JULY 9.
KIM WAS KIDNAPPED TO SEOUL FROM TOKYO ON AUGUST 8, 1973 BY WHAT JAPANESE POLICE SAY WERE SOUTH KOREAN INTELLIGENCE AGENTS.
KIM DAE JUNG, WHO RAN IN THE 1971 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FOR THE DEFUNCT NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY, LOST TO PRESIDENT PARK CHUNG HEE WHO WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1979.
HE WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE 1980 KWANGJU UPRISING WHICH CLAIMED THE LIVES OF 193 PEOPLE. THE VERDICT WAS TWICE COMMUTED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON.
Document 739
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
July 19, 1987, Sunday, BC cycle
ADVANCED-DATE: July 17, 1987, Friday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 1352 words
HEADLINE: U.S. policy shifts on South Korea
BYLINE: BY DAVID BUTTS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
Rarely does an administration admit it has changed its foreign policy.
But in the case of South Korea, where President Chun Doo Hwan agreed this month to democratic reforms in the face of public pressure, the Reagan administration is at least willing to acknowledge a major adjustment.
After years of ''quiet diplomacy'' in the face of student protests, military crackdowns and alleged human rights abuses, the Reagan administration recently switched to a policy of public warnings against martial law, meetings with opposition leaders and calls for democratic reform.
''Quiet diplomacy was what we practiced, what was being crafted,'' said a senior administration official, involved in both Reagan's earlier policy and the shift to a more public stance. ''We've taken a much higher profile.''
The administration feels that its support of democratic reform paid off.
But critics say the shift in U.S. policy was not a benevolent change developed out of a concern for democracy, the rights of a few political prisoners or the safety of young students. It was a calculated move, they say, to catch the tide of a popular movement before it submerged Washington.
Chun, faced with continuing nationwide street protests and knowing he did not have American backing for martial law, gave in to all key opposition demands July 1, setting the stage for direct presidential elections and the first peaceful transfer of power since the country was established after World War II.
Chun's acquiescence to opposition demands will not be fully implemented until he turns power over to a popularly elected government in February 1988, and many analysts caution there is always a possiblity of Chun turning back on his word.
But during the three weeks of protests in June, the United States pressed for democratic reform, a policy that administration officials say will be maintained in the country.
The policy, first enunciated by Assistant Secretary of State Gaston Sigur in a Feb. 6 speech in New York, asserted that the United States expected Chun to adhere to a promise to step down, and called for a more ''open and legitimate'' political system. Sigur concluded ''old patterns no longer suffice.''
''Yes, it was different,'' the senior official said, recalling the speech. ''It was decided that we needed to be on record.''
However, human rights activists who have consistently pushed Reagan for a more public stance on South Korea question why the administration waited so long to speak up for democratic reform.
Why, they ask, did the administration not make clear its desire for democracy when an estimated 1,800 political prisoners lanquished in jails, some reportedly victims of torture?
Why was the administration not incensed when senior opposition leader Kim Dae Jung was manhandled at the Seoul airport and placed under house arrest on his return from exile last year?
''The Reagan administration is always on the strong side,'' said Sim Kisop, one of three staff members monitoring Reagan's policy in Washington for Kim Dae Jung.
''If Chun was strong enough to control the demonstrations, then they would have supported Chun. But when the opposition gets stronger, they switch.''
Sim says Reagan's shift in South Korea is identical to the shift in the Philippines just before Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in February 1986.
Administration officials say they were only able to exert effective pressure on Chun when he raised the expectation for democratic reform in April 1986 by promising to step down, and when millions of protesters, with the support of the middle class, demonstrated in June that they were angry enough to push the country into chaos if Chun did not stick to his promise.
''The time seemed right,'' the senior official said. ''With all of us looking at it, it seemed right.
''We were pushing at Chun Doo Hwan knowing that he was coming at it anyway. The president said he was stepping down. All of it fit in very nicely with what we believed.'' The administration insists that its support for democracy was genuine. Its adds it was up to the Korean people to bring about democracy.
Sidestepping an opportunity to claim a victory for Reagan's foreign policy at a time when victories are scarce, top administration officials have repeatedly said they ''played at the margins'' in South Korea and credit Chun and the Korean people with the move toward democratic reform.
''A lot of people around town now are taking credit for Korea,'' the senior administration official said. ''We can show where we stand, but the Korean people are doing this just as the Philippine people did. Everyone likes to be on the side of a winner and say, 'Gee, I had a great hand in this.' But without the people of those two countries, none of this would come about.''
The protests were apparently the major factor in Chun's shift, but not the only factor.
Chun's keen awareness of South Korea's world image and desire to break away from the stigma of being an American puppet dictatorship was influential.
To improve its image, Seoul has taken to holding major international events, including the Asian Games in September and October 1986 and, more importantly, the upcoming Summer Olympics in 1988.
The June protests were jeopardizing the Olympics. And when word hit Seoul that other cities were offering to host the Games, it gave new impetus to reaching a quick political settlement.
The military was restrained by its poor image ever since the 1979 assassination of Park Chung Hee, who was succeeded the following year by Chun. The army has long sought to shake its unpopular public image which was reinfored by its harsh handling of the Kwangju uprising in May 1980.
Chun sent troops to put down demonstrators in Kwangju who were calling for his removal. At least 200, and as many as 2,000, people were killed by the soldiers.
''The military never wants to have another Kwangju,'' the administration official said. ''Kwangju is an inhibitor on the military.''
Thus, martial law did not seem to be a viable option for Chun.
During all this, Chun's popularity had ''dropped from low to lower,'' the official said.
Weighing all the factors, Reagan's policymakers decided to step up their public pressure on Chun and their support of the opposition.
''They didn't want to be left at the station,'' said Rep. Stephen Solarz, D-N.Y., chairman of the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs and a vocal critic of ''quiet diplomacy.''
The Reagan policy shift was couched in terms of support for democracy, but what was really being guarded were U.S. interests in the area, Solarz said.
The United States maintains 41,000 troops in South Korea. Their strategic role goes beyond defense of the Korean peninsula. South Korea is also a major U.S. trading partner, and its growing middle class is a valuable market.
''The shift simply was a recognition of realities,'' Solarz said. ''The administration has come to understand the best way to create stability is by the establishment of democracy rather than continuation of oppression.''
Solarz says the administration's policy shift was welcome, but very late.
On June 15, three months after Chun had cut off negotiations on election reform, Solarz was having difficulty convincing Reagan he should support a non-binding resolution criticizing Chun and calling for a ''good-faith dialogue'' with opposition leaders.
On June 18, Reagan jumped on the bandwagon, sending Deputy Assistant Secretary of State William Clark to Congress to announce the administration would support the measure.
A day later, U.S. Ambassador James Lilley delivered a letter from Reagan to Chun, calling for restraint in handling the protesters, freedom for political prisoners and a new political dialogue with opponents.
The protests continued, and on June 22, Sigur flew to Seoul to deliver what he later said was a warning to Chun not to declare martial law.
On June 28, under pressure from all sides, Roh Tae-woo announced he would accept the opposition demands. Chun concurred on July 1, ending the crisis, at least for the time being.
Document 740
The Associated Press
July 10, 1987, Friday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 481 words
HEADLINE: Strong Anti-Government, Anti-U.S. Feelings Prevail in Kwangju
BYLINE: By PAUL SHIN, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Seven years after President Chun Doo-hwan put down a popular uprising here, anti-government and anti-U.S. sentiment remain high in this traditional opposition stronghold.
People in Kwangju seldom call the president by his official title. He is referred to at best simply as Chun Doo-hwan.
By official count, 191 people were killed and more than 800 injured during the nine-day Kwangju uprising in 1980, the worst in South Korean history. Dissident sources claim the casualty figure was much higher.
Chun and Roh Tae-woo _ chairman of the governing Democratic Justice Party and like Chun, a former army general _ put down the rebellion shortly after Chun seized power.
Many Kwangju residents believe the United States helped Chun and the military quell the uprising, because some South Korean army units under operational control of the U.S. commander in Seoul took part in the suppression.
Time appeared to have done little to heal the scars as the city on Thursday buried a student killed during anti-government protests in Seoul, 165 miles to the north.
Nearly one-fourth of the city's 900,000 people turned out for the funeral of Lee Han-yul, a student at Yonsei University who died Sunday of injuries suffered June 9 when he was hit by a police tear gas canister.
Lee was buried in a public cemetery outside Kwangju, his hometown.
"Down with Chun Doo-hwan," many people shouted as they gathered along a boulevard in central Kwangju.
"Yankee, go home," others shouted, shaking clenched fists.
One red streamer lowered from a utility pole on the street read, "Chun Doo-hwan, be prepared (for revenge)."
In Seoul, up to 1 million people surged into the City Hall square behind Lee's coffin as it was taken through the city on its way to Kwangju.
Lee was the only demonstrator killed in 18 straight days of street violence last month. On July 1, Chun yielded to protesters' demands for democratic reform, including direct presidential elections.
Today, he resigned as chairman of the governing Democratic Justice Party.
The 90 or so cars in the funeral procession inched bumper to bumper through the crowd of onlookers in Kwangju. Many waited more than four hours under a scorching sun.
People perched on rooftops, telephones booths and in trees for a glimpse. Some brought chairs and stools to stand on.
A great part of the city came to a standstill, with people jamming virtually all streets in the city center. Many cried as Lee's hearse passed, while others shouted insults to Chun and Roh.
A man dressed in a business suit stopped a visiting U.S. reporter and shouted in Korean, "The bad guy is the United States, which manipulates Chun Doo-hwan from behind."
A few Koreans who tried to help foreigners with translation were threatened by angry demonstrators.
"Why do you speak English? This is Korea, not the United States," one protester shouted.
Document 741
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 9, 1987, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 346 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; S. KOREAN PRESIDENT AGREES AMNESTY FOR 2,335 INCLUDING KIM DAE JUNG
DATELINE: SEOUL, JULY 9
BODY:
THE SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED AN AMNESTY AND RESTORATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS THURSDAY FOR 2,335 PEOPLE CONVICTED OF POLITICAL AND SECURITY OFFENSES, INCLUDING DISSIDENT LEADER KIM DAE JUNG.
THE SWEEPING MEASURES WERE DECIDED AT A CABINET MEETING AND APPROVED BY PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN.
CULTURE AND INFORMATION MINISTER LEE WOON HEE, IN ANNOUNCING THE DECISION, SAID THE MEASURES WERE TAKEN TO ACHIEVE GENUINE DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT BASED ON NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND UNITY.
THE MEASURES WILL BE CARRIED OUT FROM FRIDAY AS PART OF 'DEMOCRATIZATION' FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF 177 PEOPLE ARRESTED DURING ANTIGOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS AND 357 POLITICAL PRISONERS.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT MEANS KIM, 61, WILL BE CLEARED OF A SUSPENDED 20-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE IMPOSED AFTER HE WAS CONVICTED OF SEDITION IN CONNECTION WITH THE 1980 KWANGJU INCIDENT.
HE WILL ALSO HAVE HIS CIVIL RIGHTS RESTORED, ENABLING HIM TO RESUME POLITICAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEVEN YEARS AND RUN IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
THE MEASURES APPLY TO MOST OF THE APPROXIMATELY 2,500 PEOPLE CONVICTED OF POLITICAL AND SECURITY OFFENSES SINCE THE 1970S.
AMONG THEM ARE FORMER PARLIAMENTARIAN KIM SANG HYON, AN AIDE OF KIM DAE JUNG, THE REV. MOON IK HWAM, ANOTHER LEADING DISSIDENT, AND 17 PEOPLE ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED IN THE KWANGJU INCIDENT.
KIM DAE JUNG'S SENTENCE HAD BEEN COMMUTED FROM THE DEATH PENALTY. HE WAS ARRESTED IN MAY 1980.
KIM SAID IN A STATEMENT HE HAS NEVER COMMITTED ANY CRIME AND SHOULD NOT THERE FORE NEED AN AMNESTY. HE SAID HE PRAYED FOR THE EARLY RELEASE OF MANY OTHER PEOPLE STILL IN PRISON.
THE RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY AND THE TOP OPPOSITION REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY ISSUED STATEMENTS WELCOMING THE MEASURES.
MEANWHILE, SECURITY AUTHORITIES REMOVED 270 OF ABOUT 350 NAMES ON A WANTED LIST IN CONNECTION WITH POLITICAL CASES SINCE 1980.
EXCLUDED FROM THE MEASURES WERE ABOUT 80 LEFTISTS WHO ALLEGEDLY VIOLATED THE NATIONAL SECURITY LAW.
HOWEVER, THE AUTHORITIES SAID THEY WILL BE TREATED LENIENTLY IF THEY GIVE THEMSELVES UP TO POLICE.
Document 742
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 9, 1987, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 597 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; SOUTH KOREAN STUDENTS, POLICE CLASH IN MARCH FOR DEAD STUDENT
DATELINE: SEOUL, JULY 9
BODY:
SOUTH KOREAN STUDENTS AND POLICE CLASHED THURSDAY AS THE YOUTHS VOWED TO CRUSH PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN'S GOVERNMENT ALTHOUGH STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN FOR DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE COUNTRY.
THE FIRST MASSIVE CONFRONTATION SINCE CHUN LAST WEEK ANNOUNCED ACCEPTANCE OF OPPOSITION DEMANDS FOR POLITICAL REFORM OCCURRED IN SEOUL IN THE COURSE OF A MARCH FOR A 20-YEAR-OLD YONSEI UNIVERSITY STUDENT, WHO DIED LAST SUNDAY AFTER HE WAS HIT ON THE HEAD BY A POLICE TEAR GAS CANISTER DURING A CAMPUS DEMONSTRATION ON JUNE 9.
THE FUNERAL SERVICE WAS HELD AT YONSEI UNIVERSITY. DISSIDENT KIM DAE JUNG, WHOSE CIVIL RIGHTS WERE REINSTATED IN A GOVERNMENT AMNESTY ANNOUNCED THURSDAY MORNING, WAS AMONG THE DIGNITARIES WHO ATTENDED THE SERVICE.
FOLLOWING THE FUNERAL, SOME 60,000 STUDENTS AND CITIZENS TOOK TO THE STREET FOR A SIX- KILOMETER PROCESSION TO CITY HALL.
AS THEY MARCHED PEOPLE JOINED THE PROCESSION. THE NUMBER SWELLED TO ABOUT 200,000 IN FRONT OF CITY HALL.
SOME DEMONSTRATORS PULLED DOWN A JAPANESE FLAG FROM A NEARBY HOTEL AND BURNED IT.
ABOUT 30 STUDENTS CLIMBED TO THE ROOF OF CITY HALL AND LOWERED AN OLYMPIC FLAG. THEY THEN HOISTED A SOUTH KOREAN FLAG AND A SEOUL CITY FLAG AT HALF-STAFF.
EN ROUTE TO CITY HALL, THE YOUNG MARCHERS CHANTED 'DOWN WITH THE KILLER GOVERNMENT' AND 'CRUSH THE DICTATORSHIP AND REGAIN DEMOCRACY.'
AT CITY HALL, ABOUT 100,000 STUDENT DEMONSTRATORS TRIED TO PROCEED TO THE NORTH, AS SOME OF THEM SAID 'LET'S GO TO BLUE HOUSE (PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE)'
RIOT POLICE SET UP ROADBLOCKS IN FRONT OF DONG-A ILBO NEWSPAPER OFFICE. THE STUDENTS CHANTED SLOGANS CALLING FOR THE OUSTER OF THE CHUN GOVERNMENT.
POLICE FIRED TEAR GAS CANISTERS AT 2:50 P.M. (1:50 P.M. JAPAN TIME).
A NUMBER OF DEMONSTRATORS WERE INJURED BUT STUDENTS CONTINUED TO CLASH WITH POLICE. A POLICE JEEP WAS SET ON FIRE.
IN ANNOUNCING AMNESTY THURSDAY MORNING, THE GOVERNMENT RESTORED RIGHTS FOR 2,334 PEOPLE, INCLUDING KIM DAE JUNG.
THIS WAS THE THIRD MOVE TOWARD DEMOCRATIZATION MADE BY THE GOVERNMENT SINCE CHUN'S ANNOUNCEMENT LAST WEEK. EARLIER 177 PEOPLE HELD SINCE JUNE 10 ANTIGOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS WERE FREED AND 357 POLITICAL PRISONERS ALSO WERE RELEASED.
AMONG THOSE WHO REGAINED CIVIL RIGHTS WERE LARGE NUMBERS OF POLITICIANS CONSIDERED CLOSE TO KIM DAE JUNG.
IN A NEWSPAPER INTERVIEW PUBLISHED THURSDAY, KIM DAE JUNG INDICATED HE MIGHT RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN THE ELECTION SCHEDULED FOR LATE THIS YEAR.
HE SAID THERE HAS BEEN 'THE VOICE OF PROTEST' SINCE HE SAID LAST NOVEMBER HE WOULD NOT BE A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT.
HE SAID HE WANTS TO 'LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF MANY PEOPLE.'
HIS REMARKS ARE CERTAIN TO COMPLICATE THE QUESTION OF CHOOSING AN OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
KIM YOUNG SAM, HEAD OF THE MAJOR OPPOSITION REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY (RDP), MAY HAVE TO WORK OUT WAYS TO RESOLE THE ISSUE.
THE OPTIONS BEING CONSIDERED ARE THE SELECTION OF ONE CANDIDATE BY VOTE AMONG RDP MEMBERS IN TALKS BETWEEN THE TWO KIMS OR MEDIATION BY A THIRD PERSON.
LEE'S BODY WAS TAKEN TO KWANGJU, HIS HOMETOWM WHERE SOME 100,000 PEOPLE GATHERED FOR A 'DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S FUNERAL.'
THE STUDENTS WHO ASSEMBLED IN FRONT OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL DEMANDED THAT A KOREAN FLAG BE FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF. OFFICIALS REFUSED AND SOME IRATE STUDENTS SET A BUS ON FIRE.
THE INTERIOR PART OF THE BUS WAS BURNED AND RIOT POLICE FIRED TEAR GAS.
CHAOS BRIEFLY PREVAILED OVER THE CITY'S CENTRAL DISTRICT.
LEE'S BODY WAS BURIED IN THE CITY PARK CEMETERY WHERE THE BODIES OF THOSE KILLED IN THE 1980 KWANGJU UPRISING WERE BURIED.
Document 743
The Associated Press
July 8, 1987, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 862 words
HEADLINE: Broad Amnesty Includes Kim Dae-jung; Student's Funeral Held
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
The government on Thursday announced an amnesty for 2,335 people convicted of anti-government acts. The measure includes restoration of civil rights for Kim Dae-jung, South Korea's best-known dissident leader.
The announcement came a few hours before tens of thousands of people began a funeral march to city hall, escorting the coffin of a 20-year-old student who was fatally wounded by a tear gas canister fired during an anti-government protest last month.
Marchers shouted "Down with the military dictatorship!" and sang protest songs on their way to a large plaza in front of city hall.
The procession began at Yonsei University, where a funeral was held for Lee Han-yul. Lee's coffin, draped with a South Korean flag, was placed on the bed of a small truck and the two-mile funeral march began.
After the march, Lee's body was to be taken by motor convoy to Kwangju, his hometown 165 miles to the south.
The mood was somber at the funeral and many people weeped and prayed. Members of the mostly student crowd wore black ribbons of mourning.
One banner said "Let's take revenge for Lee Han-yul," who died Sunday after 27 days in a coma. Students wore headbands saying "down with the police who kill democratic people."
Clerics of many denominations attended the services, where one speaker, student leader Woo Yusang-ho, declared Lee "will be born again with democracy and we will fight to the end to realize his dream for democratization."
The funeral procession then left the campus, a frequent scene of violent anti-government protests before President Chun Doo-hwan yielded to opposition demands for sweeping democratic reforms last week.
Authorities said Wednesday the students would be allowed only a brief march and riot police would disperse them with force if they tried to go farther. But on Thursday, but there was no indication that would happen.
Political leaders on both sides had appealed for calm to avert further unrest that might endanger negotiations on democratic reform.
Thousands of people lined the streets as the funeral procession moved slowly along to the sound of drums and cymbals. Others stood on tops of buildings or leaned from windows to watch the marchers file past.
Lee and a policemen were the only people killed in nearly three weeks of violence that preceded Chun's reversal, but hundreds of people were injured and thousands detained for varying lengths of time.
Government spokesman Lee Woong-hee, announcing the amnesty, said it was a move to promote national reconciliation and will be effective Friday.
The Justice Ministry said all 2,335 people covered by the amnesty are out of prison on parole or suspension of sentences. They had been convicted in connection with various anti-government activities dating back to the 1970s.
A day earlier, the government released 357 political prisoners who had been awaiting trial. Justice Ministry officials said all had been convicted of violating national security laws and other regulations, and some had spent several years in prison.
More than 500 such prisoners have been freed, including 177 released Monday. Most of them were picked up in violent anti-government demonstrations over the past month. Before the releases, the government said it held 1,100 political prisoners, but the opposition contends there are hundreds more.
Chun agreed to the release of prisoners and restoration of rights in his agreement July 1 to accept opposition demands for reforms including direct presidential elections.
Lee, the government spokesman, said the amnesty includes restoration of civil rights for Kim Dae-jung and 17 others who had been convicted of sedition.
Kim had been under a suspended 20-year prison sentence handed down in 1980 when he was accused of involvement in the bloody Kwangju uprising in which government security forces killed at least 200 people. He was tried by a military tribunal and sentenced to death. The government later commuted the sentence to life and then to 20 years.
The conviction took away Kim's civil rights and legally barred him from political activity. Despite the ban and despite repeated periods of house arrest, he had continued to take part in an anti-government campaign.
In a statement issued at his Seoul home, Kim said he had received the news of the amnesty with "mixed feelings."
He said the sedition charges of which he was convicted were "a total fabrication ... I did not commit any crimes for which I should receive amnesty and rehabilitation."
"However, considering that the restoration of my civil rights was a gift resulting from the sacrifice and support of our people, I am fully grateful."
There has been much speculation abou Kim's political future, and he said Thursday that "I will state my future position and political views early next week following the end of a mourning period for Lee Han-yul."
Justice Ministry officials said 86 other prisoners held under national security laws were not freed because they were Communists or had not shown repentance.
Opposition leaders have demanded freedom for all political prisoners, but some have agreed that Communists should not be released.
Document 744
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 8, 1987, WEDNESDAY
LENGTH: 293 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; SOUTH KOREA FREES 357 POLITICAL PRISONERS
DATELINE: SEOUL, JULY 8
BODY:
THE SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT RELEASED 357 OF THE REMAINING 443 POLITICAL PRISONERS WEDNESDAY, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAID.
THE REV. MOON IK HWAN, A DISSIDENT LEADER, WAS AMONG THOSE FREED.
THE JUSTICE MINISTRY SAID RADICALS WHO ARE AGAINST A LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM AND WHO ADVOCATE VIOLENT REVOLUTION WERE EXCLUDED FROM THE LIST OF THOSE RELEASED DUE TO CONSIDERATIONS OF MAINTENANCE OF LAW AND ORDER.
A TOTAL OF 753 POLITICAL PRISONERS HAVE BEEN FREED SINCE ROH TAE WOO, CHAIRMAN OF RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY, PROPOSED A PACKAGE OF DEMOCRATIC REFORMS ON JUNE 29.
THE GOVERNMENT WILL GRANT AMNESTY THURSDAY TO SOME 2,050 PEOPLE CONVICTED OF POLITICAL OFFENSES, INCLUDING DISSIDENT LEADER KIM DAE JUNG, AND REINSTATE HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, THE OFFICIALS SAID.
KIM DAE JUNG, FOUND GUILTY OF INVOLVEMENT IN THE KWANGJU INCIDENT, IS PRESENTLY BANNED FROM POLITICAL ACTIVITIES BECAUSE OF A SUSPENDED 20-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE. THE KWANGJU UPRISING CLAIMED THE LIVES OF 193 PEOPLE, ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL FIGURES.
BESIDES KIM, CIVIL RIGHTS WILL BE RESTORED TO FORMER PARLIAMENTARIAN KIM SANG HYONG.
THE GOVERNMENT IS CONSIDERING TAKING THOSE SUSPECTED OF ILLEGAL INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OFF THE WANTED LIST, THEY SAID.
MEANWHILE, KIM DAE JUNG SAID HE TOLD U.S. AMBASSADOR JAMES LILLEY THAT IF THE OPPOSITION TAKES POWER, IT WILL NOT GO TO EXTREMES BECAUSE THE MIDDLE CLASS PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN DEMOCRATIZATION.
THE DISSIDENT LEADER SAID THERE WILL BE NO POLITICAL RETALIATION IF THE OPPOSITION TAKES OFFICE.
IN A TWO-AND-A-HALF HOUR MEETING WITH LILLEY, KIM SAID IF THE OPPOSITION TAKES OFFICE, IT WILL ADOPT A FREE ECONOMIC POLICY AND AIM AT REALIZATION OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE THROUGH A FAIR DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH.
Document 745
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 8, 1987, WEDNESDAY
LENGTH: 187 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT KOREA: AMNESTY TO BE ANNOUNCED THURSDAY
DATELINE: SEOUL, JULY 8
BODY:
THE GOVERNMENT OF PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN WILL ANNOUNCE THURSDAY AN AMNESTY TO RELEASE ABOUT 2,100 POLITICAL PRISONERS AND TO REINSTATE CIVIL RIGHTS FOR DISSIDENT LEADER KIM DAE JUNG, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAID WEDNESDAY.
AMONG THE PARDONED WILL BE THOSE CHARGED WITH SEDITION IN THE 1980 KWANGJU UPRISING AND THE 1974 ANTIGOVERNMENT STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS.
BESIDES KIM, CIVIL RIGHTS WILL BE RESTORED TO FORMER PARLIAMENTARIAN KIM SANG HYONG.
ON WEDNESDAY, THE GOVERNMENT WILL SUSPEND PRISON SENTENCES FOR 330 POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW IN JAIL AND WILL FREE THEM, THE OFFICIALS SAID.
KIM DAE JUNG, FOUND GUILTY OF INVOLVEMENT IN THE KWANGJU INCIDENT, IS PRESENTLY BANNED FROM POLITICAL ACTIVITIES BECAUSE OF A SUSPENDED 20-YEAR-PRISON SENTENCE. THE KWANGJU UPRISING CLAIMED THE LIVES OF 193 PEOPLE.
KIM DAE JUNG AND KIM YOUNG SAM, LEADER OF THE MAIN OPPOSITION REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ARE BOTH REGARDED AS PROBABLE CONTENDERS IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION EXPECTED LATER THIS YEAR.
CHUN HAND-PICKED DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY LEADER ROH TAE WOO JUNE 10 AS THE PARTY'S NOMINEE FOR THE UPCOMING ELECTION.
Document 746
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 7, 1987, TUESDAY
LENGTH: 254 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; KIM DAE JUNG'S RIGHTS TO BE RESTORED JULY 9
SOURCE: DONG-A ILBO
DATELINE: SEOUL, JULY 7
BODY:
THE SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT WILL DECIDE AT A CABINET MEETING THURSDAY TO GRANT CLEMENCY AND RESTORE CIVIL RIGHTS TO DISSIDENT LEADER KIM DAE JUNG, YONHAP NEWS AGENCY REPORTED TUESDAY.
ABOUT 2,000 OTHERS WILL ALSO BE GIVEN THE SAME TREATMENT INCLUDING THOSE WHO VIOLATED THE NATIONAL SECURITY LAW, YONHAP SAID.
IT SAID THE GOVERNMENT WILL PAROLE 330 POLITICAL PRISONERS OR COMMUTE THEIR SENTENCES WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. BEEN UNDER A SUSPENDED 20-YEAR IMPRISONMENT FOR SEDITION CHARGES.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS GRANTED FREEDOM TO 2,400 PERSONS UNDER THE PLANNED PARDON WHILE 300 OTHERS, INCLUDING POLITICAL PRISONERS WHO ARE KOREANS IN JAPAN OR LEADERS IN PAST LEFTIST INCIDENTS, HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED FROM THE REHABILITATION, THE PAPER SAID.
BESIDES KIM, FULL CIVIL RIGHTS WILL ALSO BE RESTORED TO FORMER NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBER KIM SANG HYON, AND THOSE ACCUSED IN THE 1980 KWANGJU UPRISING AND KIM'S SEDITION CASE, IT REPORTED.
IN ADDITION, THE GOVERNMENT WILL RELEASE ABOUT 300 POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW IN JAIL.
THE RESTORATION OF DISSIDENTS' SUSPENDED CIVIL RIGHTS AND THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE AMONG THE PROPOSALS MADE LATE LAST MONTH BY ROH TAE WOO, CHAIRMAN OF THE RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY, IN A BID TO END THREE WEEKS OF STREET DEMONSTRATIONS CALLING FOR DEMOCRATIZATION.
ROH'S PROPOSALS, WHICH INCLUDED THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE OPPOSITION DEMAND FOR DIRECT POPULAR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, WERE OPENLY ENDORSED BY PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN IN A TELEVISED ANNOUNCEMENT LAST WEDNESDAY.
Document 747
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 3, 1987, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 355 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; KIM YOUNG SAM HOPES TO WORK OUT CANDIDACY ISSUE
DATELINE: SEOUL, JULY 3
BODY:
KIM YOUNG SAM, LEADER OF THE SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY, SAID FRIDAY HE EXPECTS TO WORK OUT A SOLUTION WITH KIM DAE JUNG ON THE QUESTION OF AN RDP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
'KIM DAE JUNG AND I KNOW VERY WELL WHAT WILL BE THE RESULT IF WE DON'T WORK OUT A SOLUTION OVER THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ISSUE,' KIM YOUNG SAM SAID.
'I BELIEVE WE CAN OVERCOME THIS,' HE SAID, INDICATING THAT THE RDP WILL BE ABLE TO FILE ONLY ONE CANDIDATE FOR THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
THE TWO KIMS ARE SCHEDULED TO MEET SATURDAY.
KIM YOUNG SAM WAS COOL TO A KIM DAE JUNG PROPOSAL THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL NATIONAL CABINET PENDING THE TRANSFER OF POWER NEXT FEBRUARY, SAYING 'IT IS DIFFICULT TO DO EVERYTHING AT THE SAME TIME.'
KIM YOUNG SAM ALSO DIFFERED WITH ANOTHER KIM DAE JUNG PROPOSAL THAT THE KWANGJU INCIDENT BE SETTLED UNDER THE PROVISIONAL NATIONAL CABINET.
KIM YOUNG SAM SAID THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION SHOULD RESOLVE THE ISSUE.
KIM YOUNG SAM SAID PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN SHOULD GIVE UP HIS MEMBERSHIP IN THE RULING JUSTICE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO ENSURE IMPARTIALITY IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM SCHEDULE, KIM SAID HE HOPED THE DRAFT OF A NEW CONSTITUTION WILL BE ADOPTED BY THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BEFORE LIBERATION DAY ON AUGUST 15 AND A NATIONAL REFERENDUM BE HELD IN SEPTEMBER.
HE SAID HE HOPED THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WOULD TAKE PLACE IN OCTOBER OR NOVEMBER, WITH ELECTIONS FOR THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO FOLLOW A MONTH LATER.
THE RDP WILL HOLD TOP-LEVEL TALKS WITH THE RULING PARTY AFTER HIS PARTY WORKS OUT ITS CONSTITUTIONAL DRAFT BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK, HE ADDED.
ACCORDING TO KIM YOUNG SAM, THE RDP WILL SET UP A PANEL WITHIN THE PARTY TO DRAW UP A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LAW AND ANOTHER COMMITTEE ON A NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION LAW.
MEANWHILE, THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR A DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION SET UP A SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO PRESS THE GOVERNMENT FOR THE RELEASE OF ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS.
THE COALITION, AN UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION OF ANTIGOVERNMENT GROUPS, PLANS TO HOLD A RALLY WEDNESDAY TO PRESS ITS DEMAND.
Document 748
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 3, 1987, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 327 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; KIM DAE JUNG REPEATS CALL FOR TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT
DATELINE: SEOUL, JULY 3
BODY:
SOUTH KOREAN DISSIDENT LEADER KIM DAE JUNG FRIDAY REITERATED HIS CALL FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF A TRANSITIONAL NATIONAL GOVERNMENT MADE UP OF ELEMENTS OF THE RULING AND OPPOSITION PARTIES AND NEUTRALS AND ACCEPTABLE TO THE ENTIRE NATION, TO RULE BETWEEN NOW AND INSTALLATION OF A NEW PRESIDENT NEXT FEBRUARY.
KIM, CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL FOR PROMOTION OF DEMOCRACY, SAID THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SUCH A GOVERNMENT WOULD PROMOTE DEMOCRACY WHILE AVOIDING POLITICAL RETALIATION.
KIM DAE JUNG ADVOCATED SETTING UP A SPECIAL COMMITTEE UNDER SUCH A GOVERNMENT TO INVESTIGATE THE KWANGJU INCIDENT OF MAY 1980.
IN THE INCIDENT IN WHICH, ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL FIGURES, 193 PEOPLE WERE KILLED, TROOPS CRUSHED A CIVILIAN REVOLT AGAINST MARTIAL LAW.
THE DISSIDENT LEADER SAID THE COMMITTEE SHOULD INQUIRE INTO THE TRUTH OF THE INCIDENT SO AS TO REDRESS THE VICTIMS AND RESTORE THE HONOR OF KWANGJU'S CITIZENS.
HE ALSO SAID HE CANNOT SET ASIDE HIS WARINESS UNTIL THE CHUN DOO HWAN GOVERNMENT GIVES UP THE IDEA OF STAYING IN POWER AFTER THE REALIZATION OF DEMOCRACY.
IN A SEPARATE MOVE CONNECTED WITH AN ANNOUNCED AMNESTY, THE JUSTICE MINISTRY HAS BEGUN TO SCREEN ABOUT 4,000 POLITICAL PRISONERS DETAINED SINCE THE 1970S, A MINISTRY OFFICIAL SAID.
THE MINISTRY EARLIER SAID LISTS OF 1,100 PEOPLE SENTENCED SINCE 1980 ON POLITICAL CHARGES WERE BEING REVIEWED.
MEANWHILE, RADIO PYONGYANG FOR THE FIRST TIME REFERRED TO RECENT RECONCILIATION MOVES IN SOUTH KOREA, QUOTING REPORTS OF A WESTERN NEWS AGENCY.
RADIO PYONGYANG, MONITORED IN TOKYO, SAID SOUTH KOREAN YOUTHS HAD EXPRESSED SKEPTICISM ABOUT PROPOSALS MADE BY CHUN DO HWAN AND ROH TAE WOO AND HAD STRESSED THEY WOULD CONTINUE THEIR STRUGGLE FOR TRUE DEMOCRACY.
THE RADIO HAS NOT REPORTED THE PLAN FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORM MADE BY RHO, CHAIRMAN OF THE RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY ON JUNE 29, OR PRESIDENT CHUN'S ADDRESS ON JULY 1 IN WHICH HE ACCEPTED OPPOSITION DEMANDS FOR DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
Document 749
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 2, 1987, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 1279 words
DATELINE: TOKYO, JULY 2
BODY:
THE RULING S. KOREAN DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY IS CONSIDERING SETTING UP A SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO STUDY MATTERS RELATED TO THE KWANGJU UPRISING SEVEN YEARS AGO, ACCORDING TO THE HANKOOK ILBO NEWSPAPER.
-- GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN GOTODA SAYS THE GOVERNMENT CAN NOT TAKE ACTION TO MEET CHINA'S DEMAND FOR POLITICAL SETTLEMENT OF A JAPANESE COURT DECISION AWARDING A CHINA-CLAIMED STUDENT DORMITORY TO TAIWAN.
-- POLISH LEADER JARUZELSKI SAYS IN KYOTO AN AGREEMENT WITH JAPANESE AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURER DAIHATSU MOTOR CO. IS IN THE FINAL STAGE OF COMPLETION AND HE EXPECTS THE RESULTS TO BE FRUITFUL.
-- A SUMMIT MEETING BETWEEN U.S. PRESIDENT REAGAN AND SOVIET LEADER GORBACHEV COULD TAKE PLACE BY DECEMBER OR EARLY IN 1988, JARUZELSKI SAYS.
-- GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAY AN INFLUENTIAL ADVISORY COUNCIL TO PRIME MINISTER NAKASONE WILL PROPOSE SHARPLY INCREASING EXPENDITURES FOR PUBLIC WORKS BY ABOLISHING A BUDGETARY CEILING ON INVESTMENT SPENDING.
-- TWO EXPERTS REPORT DETECTION OF CARCINOGENIC ASBESTOS IN BABY POWDER MANUFACTURED IN JAPAN.
-- HONDA MOTOR CO. ANNOUNCES PLANS TO IMPORT THE 1988 MODELS OF THE LARGE HONDA GOLDWING MOTORCYCLE MADE AT ITS U.S. SUBSIDIARY FOR SALE IN JAPAN.
-- HONDA MOTOR CO. SAYS IT HAS RAISED THE SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICES ON THREE MODELS OF ITS SUBCOMPACT CARS IN THE U.S.
-- OECD DECIDES TO HOLD A HEALTH MINISTERS CONFERENCE IN PARIS NEXT JULY TO DISCUSS SOCIAL WELFARE ISSUES IN ADVANCED COUNTRIES.
-- THE U.S. SENATE UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED AT ITS PLENARY SESSION A BIPARTISAN RESOLUTION SEEKING WIDER ACCESS TO THE JAPANESE MARKET FOR RICE, BEEF AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
-- AGRICULTURE MINISTER KATO PROPOSES A 5.95 PC CUT IN THIS YEAR'S PRODUCER PRICE OF RICE TO THE RICE PRICE COUNCIL.
-- WHITE HOUSE SOURCES SAY THE U.S. AND THE SOVIET UNION ARE NEAR AGREEMENT ON HOLDING A FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEETING IN WASHINGTON THIS MONTH.
-- THE NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY DECIDES TO RESHUFFLE SENIOR OFFICIALS IN AN APPARENT MOVE TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ALLEGED BUGGING OF A JAPAN COMMUNIST PARTY OFFICIAL'S PHONE.
-- ASIAN OFFICIALS ARE UNIMPRESSED WITH JAPAN'S NEW FOREIGN-AID PACKAGE PLEDGING TO DOUBLE OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT BY 1990. (FEATURE)
-- THE SUPREME COURT REJECTS DEMANDS FOR COMPENSATION MADE BY 98 CONSUMERS FOR DAMAGE THEY SAID THEY SUFFERED FROM HOME HEATING OIL PRICE HIKES DURING THE 1973 OIL CRISIS.
-- THE FINANCE MINISTRY FORMALLY PRESENTS THE TERMS OF THE JULY ISSUE OF LONG-TERM GOVERNMENT BONDS TO AN UNDERWRITING SYNDICATE CONSISTING OF BANKS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
-- OVER-THE-COUNTER TRADING VOLUME OF PUBLIC AND CORPORATE BONDS IN JUNE TOTALED 520.75 TRIL. YEN., ACCORDING TO THE SECURITIES DEALERS' ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN.
-- A POLICE INVESTIGATION BEGINS INTO AN EXPLOSION WHICH DESTROYED A TANK CONTAINING 3,000 KILOLITERS OF JET FUEL AT THE AIR SELF- DEFENSE FORCE BASE IN HOKKAIDO.
-- JAPAN AGREES TO EXTEND THAN 2.36 BIL. YEN WORTH OF AID TO INDONESIA TO HELP IMPLEMENT TWO AGRARIAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.
-- PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT AQUINO'S GOVERNMENT ELCOMES AN UNPRECEDENTED SWISS HIGH COURT RULING LIFTING STRICT BANKING SECRECY LAWS AND UPHOLDING PHILIPPINE CLAIMS TO FUNDS AND ASSETS DEPOSITED BY DEPOSED RULER MARCOS AND HIS ASSOCIATES.
-- JAPAN AND THE U.S. AGREE TO EXCHANGE INFORMATION AND RESEARCH DATA ON THE OFTEN FATAL VIRAL DISEASE AIDS.
-- SABA, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF TOSHIBA CORP., MEETS WITH U.S. AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN MANSFIELD TO EXPLAIN HIS RESIGNATION FOLLOWING A TOSHIBA SUBSIDIARY'S VIOLATION OF RULES OF COORDINATING COMMITTEE FOR EXPORT CONTROL.
-- BOJ GOVERNOR SUMITA SAYS THAT THE DOLLAR'S CREDIBILITY HAS APPARENTLY SHOWN SIGNS OF RECOVERY TO A CERTAIN EXTENT AS RECENT FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKETS MOVED IN THE DIRECTION OF CORRECTING AN EXCESSIVE WEAKNESS IN ITS VALUE.
-- DOLLAR IN TOKYO CLOSES AT 146.93 YEN, UP 0.51 YEN.
-- NIKKEI STOCK AVERAGE ON THE TOKYO STOCK EXCHANGE RISES 384.08 YEN TO 24,636.46 YEN.
-- S. KOREAN RULING PARTY CHAIRMAN ROH AND OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER KIM YOUNG SAM MEET AND AGREE ON AN APPROACH TO DRAFTING CONSTITUTIONAL REVISIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
-- THE CANADIAN CITY OF CALGARY SIGNALS ITS READINESS FOR NEXT YEAR'S WINTER OLYMPICS WITH THE OPENING OF A NEW OLYMPIC OVAL TO BE USED FOR SPEED-SKATING EVENTS.
-- TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. SAYS IT HAS CREATED TOYOTA MANUFACTURERS CLUB IN INDONESIA AIMED AT STRENGTHENING BUSINESS TIES AMONG LOCAL AUTO PARTS MANUFACTURERS AND TOYOTA AFFILIATES.
-- OKI ELECTRIC INDUSTRY CO. ANNOUNCES PLANS TO SET UP A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY IN SCOTLAND TO PRODUCE DOT PRINTERS.
-- U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY VERNON WALTERS WILL VISIT JAPAN AND CHINA FOLLOWING HIS CURRENT VISIT TO THE SOVIET UNION, WHERE HE IS SEEKING SUPPORT FOR U.S.-PROPOSED DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO END THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR.
-- FUJI BANK LTD. SAYS JAPAN WILL MARK A 2.8 PC REAL GNP GROWTH IN FISCAL 1987 DUE LARGELY TO THE GOVERNMENT'S PUMP-PRIMING MEASURES TOTALING Y TRIL. YEN.
-- RELATIVES OF THE SEVEN JAPANESE VICTIMS OF LAST FRIDAY'S PHILIPPINE AIR CRASH LEAVE MANILA FOR HOME.
-- C. ITOH AND CO. PRESIDENT SAYS THE COMPANY WILL SET UP AN INTERNAL COMMITTEE TO AVOID HANDLING EXPORTS VIOLATING COCOM RULES.
-- TRADE MINISTER TAMURA ASKS MAJOR INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS TO HONOR COCOM REGULATIONS.
-- INDONESIAN PRESIDENT SUHARTO SAYS JAPANESE SCHOLARSHIPS GRANTED TO INDONESIANS SHOULD BE USED TO FINANCE STUDY IN INDONESIA RATHER THAN IN JAPAN.
-- POLISH LEADER JARUZELSKI AND HIS WIFE LEAVE OSAKA FOR HOME AFTER WINDING UP A STATE VISIT TO JAPAN.
-- TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND ASSOCIATED TRADE WITH CHINA LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT COMMERCIAL BENEFITS AND IMPROVED POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH THE U.S., A CONGRESS REPORT SAYS.
-- SINGAPORE TELLS WASHINGTON POST ITS REPORT ON ARREST OF 16 PEOPLE CONTAINED 'SERIOUS ERRORS AND OMISSIONS,' STRAITS TIMES REPORTS.
-- RULING AND OPPOSITION PARTIES AGREE THAT THE EXTRAORDINARY DIET SESSION TO BE CONVENED NEXT MONDAY WILL LAST 65 DAYS UNTIL SEPTEMBER 8, GOVERNMENT SOURCES SAY.
-- A TEAM OF U.S. EXPERTS WILL SOON VISIT JAPAN FOR TALKS ON A JOINT ANTISUBMARINE RESEARCH PROGRAM, HIGH-LEVEL FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL SAYS.
-- KOREAN RESIDENTS IN TOKYO REQUEST THAT THEY BE GIVEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN LOCAL ELECTIONS.
-- VIETNAM HOPES JAPAN WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE PEACE AND STABILITY OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN THROUGH TRULY EFFECTIVE MEANS, A VIETNAMESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN SAYS.
-- VISITING POLISH METALLURGY AND MACHINE INDUSTRY MINISTER MACIEJEWICZ SAYS SOME PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE ON THE PROBLEM OF OBTAINING JAPANESE CREDITS FOR BUYING CAR PLANT EQUIPMENT FROM JAPANESE FIRMS.
-- TOSHIBA CORP. IS READY TO DISPATCH SENIOR OFFICIALS TO WASHINGTON IF INVITED TO U.S. CONGRESSIONAL PUBLIC HEARINGS ON A SUBSIDIARY'S ILLEGAL SALES OF MACHINE TOOLS TO THE SOVIET UNION, A TOP TOSHIBA EXECUTIVE SAYS. PUBLIC WORKS AND CUT TAX BURDENS WITH THE AIM OF ACCELERATING ECONOMIC GROWTH BY ONE PERCENTAGE POINT ANNUALLY IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
-- THE ECONOMIC PLANNING AGENCY SAYS JAPAN SHOULD OPEN ITS MARKET WIDER TO FOREIGN PRODUCTS TO REDRESS TRADE IMBALANCES WITH ITS TRADING PARTNERS.
-- THE FINANCE MINISTRY LIFTS A BAN ON SHORT SELLING OF STOCKS BY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO HELP THEM ENSURE SOUND FINANCE.
-- THE POSTS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY INFORMS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT OF ITS INTENTION TO ACCEPT APPLICATIONS BY TWO RIVAL GROUPS COMPETING FOR INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUSINESS IN JAPAN.
-- THE GOVERNMENT'S PLANNED MAJOR TAX CUT FOR FISCAL 1987 MAY BE EXPANDED TO AROUND 1.3- 1.4 TRIL. YEN FROM THE ORIGINAL PLAN OF THAN 1 TRIL. YEN DUE TO A LARGE-THAN-EXPECTED BUDGET SURPLUS IN FISCAL 1986.
Document 750
The Associated Press
July 1, 1987, Wednesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 479 words
HEADLINE: Chun Seen By Koreans As Iron-Fisted Ruler
BYLINE: By PAUL SHIN, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
President Chun Doo-hwan has never been a popular leader since he came to power with military backing seven years ago.
Chun today agreed to opposition demands for direct presidential elections and other democratic reforms. He renewed his promise to step down in February, when his term expires.
The concessions, however, did not appear likely to improve the image of the 56-year-old former army general.
Under Chun's rule, the economy has boomed and the country won the right to host the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
The president took great pride in South Korea's expanding international prestige after last year's Asian Games in Seoul. He has often said South Korea will soon be a world power.
Despite the advances, Chun's popularity has always been rated low. From back-street shopowners to members of his ruling Democratic Justice Party, the president has been viewed as an unpopular leader.
In the eyes of many people, Chun's government has never acquired legitimacy because his soldiers killed or wounded hundreds of people while suppressing a revolt in the southern city of Kwangju in 1980.
But Chun also introduced a number of liberalizing measures, including an end to a curfew dating back to the Korean War. He also eased restrictions on overseas trips.
Chun, however, put a tight lid on political dissent, arguing that South Korea could not afford full democracy in the face of the potent military threat from Communist North Korea, which launched a three-year war in 1950.
The South Korean leader has repeatedly promised to step down when his term ends on Feb. 24 next year. If he does, it would mark the first peaceful transfer of power since South Korea was founded in 1948.
A 1955 graduate of the Korean Military Academy, Chun spent many years serving in the special army forces. As a major general, he was head of the Military Security Command in late 1979 when his mentor, President Park Chung-hee, was assassinated by his intelligence chief.
A few months after Park's death, Chun staged a revolt in the military, arresting the army chief of staff for his alleged involvement in the Park assassination.
Chun successfully controlled turbulent political developments that followed, including the Kwangju uprising, and became the president after retiring from the army as a four-star general in the summer of 1980.
He rewrote the constitution under martial law and was elected president under an electoral college system, which opponents say ensures government victories. The indirect election system has since been a source of political friction that provoked widespread violent anti-government protests.
Chun had chosen Roh Tae-woo, another former general, to succeed him and announced in April he would maintain the electoral college for elections this year. But he was forced to back down in the face of massive nationwide protests.
Document 751
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JULY 1, 1987, WEDNESDAY
LENGTH: 410 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; CHUN ACCEPTS ROH'S PACKAGE, PROMISES DIRECT ELECTION
DATELINE: SEOUL, JULY 1
BODY:
PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN DECLARED WEDNESDAY HIS SUCCESSOR WILL BE PICKED IN A DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FOLLOWING A CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION.
IN AN ADDRESS OVER NATIONWIDE TV AND RADIO, CHUN SAID HE WILL CONDUCT THE DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DURING HIS TENURE OF OFFICE (THROUGH NEXT FEBRUARY) AND HAND THE GOVERNMENT OVER TO THE NEXT PRESIDENT.
CHUN SAID HE HAS ACCEPTED DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY LEADER ROH TAE WOO'S PACKAGE OF PROPOSALS WHICH HE SAID WOULD OPEN THE WAY FOR A NATIONAL RECONCILIATION.
ROH'S EIGHT-POINT PACKAGE, ANNOUNCED MONDAY, CALLED FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION TO PROVIDE FOR A DIRECT POLL, THE REINSTATEMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS FOR LEADING DISSIDENT KIM DAE JUNG, THE RELEASE OF ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS AND A GUARANTEE OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND OF THE PRESS.
CHUN SAID THAT FOLLOWING THE DIRECT ELECTION UNDER A REVISED CONSTITUTION HE WILL TRANSFER THE REINS OF THE GOVERNMENT TO THE ELECTED PRESIDENT.
CHUN SAID ROH'S PROPOSALS WERE NOT ONLY FULLY IN ACCORD WITH HIS OWN THINKING BUT IT WOULD CERTAINLY OPEN THE WAY FOR A NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND HE WOULD TAKE ACTION TO PROMOTE DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT AND NATIONAL HARMONY IN SOUTH KOREA.
CHUN SAID HE WILL EXTEND EXTENSIVE AMNESTIES AND RESTORE CIVIL RIGHTS TO RESOLVE DEEP-SET ANTAGONISM AND CONFRONTATIONS BETWEEN CITIZENS AND GOVERNMENT FORCES, AS WELL AS TO PROMOTE NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND UNITY.
THE PRESIDENT VOWED TO RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS EXCEPT FOR A SMALL NUMBER OF THOSE DETAINED FOR FELONIOUS OFFENSES.
CHUN ALSO SAID HE HAS INSTRUCTED THE CABINET TO TAKE ACTION AIMED AT FURTHER DEMOCRATIZATION AND NATIONAL COHESION TO STABILIZE THE LIFE OF ALL CITIZENS.
CHUN SAID HIS EARNEST DESIRE IS TO ACHIEVE A PEACEFUL TRANSITION OF POWER, LAY A FIRM FOUNDATION FOR DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOP A NEW ERA OF DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT AND MATURE POLITICS.
GOVERNMENT SOURCES SAID THE GOVERNMENT WILL ANNOUNCE AN AMNESTY FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS AND RESTORE CIVIL RIGHTS TO KIM DAE JUNG THIS WEEK OR NEXT WEEK.
KIM, A 1971 OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, WILL BE RETURNING TO THE POLITICAL SCENE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEVEN YEARS.
KIM WAS ARRESTED FOR SEDITION IN MAY 1980 AND SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR AN ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN THE KWANGJU UPRISING WHICH CLAIMED THE LIVES OF 189 PEOPLE.
THE VERDICT WAS COMMUTED TWICE TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON.
KIM IS CURRENTLY BANNED FROM POLITICAL ACTIVITIES UNDER THE SENTENCE WHICH HAS BEEN SUSPENDED.
Document 752
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
JUNE 25, 1987, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 437 words
HEADLINE: ASIAN NEWS-SOUTH KOREA; TENSION HIGH IN SOUTH KOREA
DATELINE: SEOUL, JUNE 25
BODY:
POLITICAL TENSION REMAINED HIGH IN SOUTH KOREA THURSDAY AS THE OPPOSITION REJECTED A RULING PARTY OFFER OF ANOTHER TOP-LEVEL MEETING TO TRY TO END THE CURRENT STALEMATE.
THE MAIN OPPOSITION REUNIFICATION DEMOCRATIC PARTY REJECTED THE OFFER BY THE DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY, SAYING PRESIDENT CHUN DOO HWAN'S INTENTION TO REVISE THE CONSTITUTION REMAINS AMBIGUOUS, RDP OFFICIALS SAID.
THE DJP MADE THE OFFER FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY'S UNPRECEDENTED TALKS BETWEEN CHUN AND RDP CHAIRMAN KIM YOUNG SAM AIMED AT DEFUSING TENSION TRIGGERED BY NATIONWIDE ANTIGOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS SINCE JUNE 10.
THE RDP OFFICIALS SAID THE RULING PARTY WANTS TO DISCUSS WHETHER THE NATION SHOULD ADOPT A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SYSTEM BY DIRECT VOTE OR A PARLIAMENTARY CABINET SYSTEM.
THE OPPOSITION PARTY REJECTED THE OFFER, SAYING CHUN MUST FIRST MAKE CLEAR HE WILL DEFINITELY WITHDRAW HIS APRIL 13 DECISION TO SUSPEND DEBATE ON CONSTITUTIONAL REVISIONS UNTIL AFTER THE 1988 SEOUL OLYMPICS, THEY SAID.
OTHERWISE, RULING-OPPOSITION TALKS WOULD BE A WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY, THE OFFICIALS ADDED.
STEPHAN CARDINAL KIM SUN HWAN MET WITH CHUN AT THE BLUE HOUSE THURSDAY MORNING AND URGED THE GOVERNMENT EITHER ACCEPT AN OPPOSITION DEMAND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION CALLING FOR DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL POLLS OR CARRY OUT A NATIONAL REFERENDUM ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM.
THE PRESIDENT SAID THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SHOULD TAKE UP THE CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE, ADDING THAT HE HAS AUTHORIZED ROH TAE WOO, LEADER OF THE RULING DEMOCRATIC JUSTICE PARTY, TO DEAL WITH IT.
THE CATHOLIC LEADER ALSO ASKED THE PRESIDENT TO RESTORE THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF DISSIDENT KIM DAE JUNG AND FREE POLITICAL DETAINEES.
CHUN REPORTEDLY SAID THE GOVERNMENT WILL DEVOTE CONSIDERABLE TIME TO THE MATTER. BUT HE SAID SINCE LEGAL STEPS MUST BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION, IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME BEFORE THE PROBLEM IS SETTLED.
KIM YOUNG SAM THURSDAY MORNING VISITED HIS COLLEAGUE, KIM DAE JUNG WHOSE HOUSE ARREST WAS LIFTED EARLY THURSDAY, TO BRIEF HIM ON WEDNESDAY'S TALKS WITH CHUN.
AN ANTIGOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS CREATED BY OPPOSITION PARTIES AND OTHER ANTIGOVERNMENT FORCES ISSUED A STATEMENT SAYING A 'NATIONWIDE PEACE MARCH' WILL BE CARRIED OUT FRIDAY AS SCHEDULED TO PRESS THE GOVERNMENT TO TAKE STEPS TOWARD DEMOCRATIZATION.
'SHOULD THERE BE EMERGENCY MEASURES AGAINST THE NATIONAL MARCH AND SHOULD THERE BE ANY PROVOCATION TO TRIGGER A KWANGJU INCIDENT, THERE WOULD BE A NATIONAL RESISTANCE. THIS IS A WARNING,' THE STATEMENT SAID.
THE BLOODY UPRISING IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCIAL CAPITAL OF KWANGJU IN MAY 1980 CLAIMED THE LIVES OF 189 PEOPLE.
Document 753
Copyright 1987 Central News Agency
JUNE 22, 1987, MONDAY
LENGTH: 202 words
HEADLINE: TOP MILITARY AUTHORITY IN SOUTH KOREA NOTES NORTH KOREAN MOVEMENTS
DATELINE: SEOUL, JUNE 22
BODY:
A TOP MILITARY AUTHORITY IN SOUTH KOREA SAID MONDAY THERE HAS BEEN NOT MUCH CHANGE IN NORTH KOREA'S MILITARY ACTIVITIES SINCE VIOLENT DEMONSTRATIONS ERUPTED HERE ON JUNE 10.
BUT NORTH KOREA IS "WATCHING VERY VERY CAREFULLY WHAT'S GOING ON HERE," GEN. WILLIAM LIVESEY TOLD A PRESS MEETING AT THE SEOUL FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS CLUB.
"I'D SAY THERE'S A HEIGHTENED AWARENESS OF THE READINESS OF THEIR OWN FORCES," SAID THE GENERAL, WHO HAS COMMANDED THE JOINT U.S./ROK FORCES HERE FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS. HE WILL LEAVE HERE ON THURSDAY.
LIVSEY SAID NORTH KOREAN FORCES ARE OFFENSIVELY DEPLOYED NEAR THE DIMILITARIZED ZONE (DMZ), "WHICH MAKES ME WONDER WHAT THEIR INTENTIONS ARE."
BUT HE EMPHASIZED THAT THE ROK/U.S. TROOPS ARE "DETERMINED, PREPARED AND CAPABLE" OF DETERRING ANY EXTERNAL AGGRESSION.
BRUSHING ASIDE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE U.S. MILITARY ROLE DURING THE KWANGJU INCIDENT IN 1980 AND HIS "ADVISORY ROLE" IF THE ROK FORCES ARE CALLED INTO EMERGENCY DOMESTIC MOVEMENTS, THE GENERAL SAID THE U.S. COMMAND IS HERE JUST TO PREVENT WAR WITH EXTERNAL AGGRESSORS.
"THE COMBINED COMMANDER AND THE COMMANDER OF THE U.S. FORCES HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR INTERNAL USE OF FORCES," HE SAID.
Document 754
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 20, 1987, WEDNESDAY
LENGTH: 168 words
HEADLINE: kwangju uprising protests continue in south korea
DATELINE: pyongyang, may 20; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
protest demonstrations commemorating a bloody 1980 uprising in south korea continued as 8,000 students gathered on 39 campuses there yesterday, according to reports reaching here today. in seoul, some 2,000 students at 14 universities staged actions tuesday to mark the nine-day revolt in kwangju which started on may 18, 1980, the official north korean news agency said. on monday, more than 20,000 people joined rallies and demonstrations across south korea to mark the insurrection. in a special mass in seoul monday, cardinal kim su hwan said that "only democratic reform could heal the wound left by the kwangju incident." he warned that "hatred" for the united states and south korean authorities "is deepening," creating conditions for another kwangju, the korean central news agency said today. in kwangju in the south of south korea, 3,000 church people hit a sit-in monday night with placards denouncing the u.s. and south korean authorities, the official north korean news agency said.
Document 755
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 19, 1987, TUESDAY
LENGTH: 510 words
HEADLINE: 22,000 south korea students clash with riot police on anniversary of kwangju uprising
DATELINE: pyongyang, may 19; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
thousands of south korean students commemorated a bloody, 1980 "anti-government" uprising monday and clashed with riot police at dozens of universities across south korea, reports reaching here today said. more than 22,000 students gathered on 62 campuses across south korea to mark the 10-day revolt against military dictatorship that erupted on may 18, 1980, in kwangju, south korea's fifth largest city 272 kilometers south of seoul, the reports said. in seoul, about 10,000 students from 17 universities staged demonstrations shouting, "down with the military dictatorship" and "bring down the regime" the students also burned effigies symbolizing chun and the united states. there were other events to mark the revolt, including a memorial service for the victims of the insurrection attended by 500 bereaved family members and friends. more than 3,000 people staged demonstrations at night after attending catholic masses in kwangju and seoul. the main memorial ceremony was held monday morning at a cemetery in a kwangju suburb 16 kilometers from the city center. buried at the cemetery are hundreds of people who were killed in the 1980 kwangju uprising. clashes broke out later in the city when police was breaking up protests. south korean main opposition leader kim yung sam asked in his letter to the memorial meeting that the authorities abandon the april 13 decision of shelving the debate on the constitutional amendment after the 1988 seoul olympics. students at various schools tried repeatedly to march out of campuses singing songs and shouting anti-government slogans. riot police in green combat uniforms with helmets and shields used armored cars, tear gas and clubs to stop students from pouring into the streets around campuses. armored cars with multiple tear gas launchers fired hundreds of rounds to break up protests. at rallies before the clashes, student leaders called on followers to oust chun doo hwan and clear the way for democratic elections. they exhorted students to emulate the students killed in the kwangju uprising and use whatever means necessary. "join the struggle and shed more blood as they did in kwangju," said a leader at seoul's yonsei university as some 2,000 students cheered and waved banners and flags. police officials in seoul were quoted as saying that they had no overall figures on the number of protesters detained, but local news reports indicated more than 300 people had been taken in by police. the 1980 kwangju uprising was a large-scale mass struggle against the military dictatorship. more than 200,000 opponents of the former seoul regime held kwangju for 10 days, demanding an end to the dictatorship, democracy and the reunification of korea. hundreds of people were reportedly killed in the uprising. south korean opposition leader kim dae jung, who now is under house arrest, was accused of plotting the uprising and was once sentenced to death. however, the seoul authorities exempted him from the punishment because of pressure from both at home and abroad.
Document 756
The Associated Press
May 18, 1987, Monday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 783 words
HEADLINE: Students Battle Riot Police on Anniversary of Uprising
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Mobs of students demanding a new government battled riot police across the country Monday, and radicals hurling firebombs staged a surprise attack outside Seoul's Roman Catholic cathederal.
Thousands of students fought riot police in Seoul and other cities during protests and services marking the seventh anniversary of the uprising in the southern city of Kwangju.
The students called for immediate elections and the removal of President Chun Doo-hwan, the ex-general who played a key role in ending the bloody 1980 revolt in Kwangju.
Police said they had no details on casualties, but several police officers were seen set ablaze by firebombs. Korean news reports said more than 300 people were detained, but national police officials said they had no overall figures.
Cardinal Stephen Kim, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in South Korea, warned the government it faces more rebellion if it does not clear the way for democratic reforms.
Chun's opponents are demanding changes in the constitution to permit direct presidential elections to choose a successor to the president, who says he will step down when his term expires in February. But Chun refuses to abandon the electoral college system before next summer's Seoul Olympics.
About 100 students hurled about 100 firebombs at riot police outside Myongdong Cathederal in the heart of Seoul after the service as hundreds of shocked pedestrians watched. The students had been mingling with worshipers leaving the cathedral just before the attack, but they did not appear to have attended the service.
"Overthrow the dictatorship by revolution," yelled the students, who were thought to be extreme leftwing radicals.
Police fired tear gas to drive the students back but tried to limit the fighting and acted only after being attacked. Observers said it was the first time they could recall such a violent incident in the center of the city in many years.
Cardinal Kim, in a special mass at Myongdong to commemorate the nine-day Kwangju uprising that started May 18, 1980, warned the government it was risking another rebellion and only democratic reforms could clear the way for peace in South Korea.
"Hatred is deepening, creating a similar situation in which another Kwangju incident could break out," said Kim, who has strongly criticized the government in the past.
At dozens of universities around the country, columns of students chanted "Down with the military dictatorship" and "Bring down the regime" as they tried to march off their campuses carrying revolutionary flags and banners.
Waiting units of riot police backed by armored cars bombarded the students with tear gas to force them back, and the two sides fought running battles in the streets in several cities. All police units in the country have been on maximum alert since Friday.
Yonhap, the Korean national news agency, said 22,000 students demonstrated at 62 schools, but the figure appeared low since about 10,000 students demonstrated at eight schools in Seoul alone.
Student leaders at rallies before the clashes called for the fall of the govenment to clear the way for elections. They urged students to follow the example of the Kwangju uprising and spare no effort.
During the May 18-26, 1980, uprising in Kwangju, thousands of rebels seized weapons from government arsenals and took control of government offices in the city before being crushed by tank-led paratroopers.
In September 1980, the electoral college named Chun president.
About 400 crying and angry relatives and supporters gathered at a cemetery in Kwangju on Monday for a memorial service for those who died in the uprising seven years ago. By official account, about 200 people died in the 1980 violence. Dissidents claim the toll was much higher.
After the memorial service, police broke up protest gatherings, touching off new clashes.
Scattered clashes continued in Kwangju Monday night, with police quickly moving in whenever a few people congregated in the downtown area. Police hurled tear gas grenades whenever people tried to gather.
About 2,000 people who attended a memorial ceremony at Kwangju's Catholic cathedral marched out of the grounds behind a 10-foot-high cross and anti-government and anti-American signs.
They were joined outside by several thousand others. The crowd sat in the street, singing protest songs, for about an hour before hundreds of riot police firing tear gas charged and dispersed the crowd.
On campuses, students burned effigies symbolizing President Chun and the United States and chanted anti-American slogans because of their belief that Washington backs the government. "Drive out Yankee imperialism," students chanted.
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 558 words
HEADLINE: Relatives Attack Effigy of Chun at Kwangju Memorial Service
BYLINE: By EDWIN Q. WHITE, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Angry relatives of protesters killed in a 1980 anti-government uprising today shouted "Down with dictatorship" as they beat, stabbed and burned an effigy of President Chun Doo-hwan.
Several hundred students meanwhile hurled stones and firebombs at police at Kwangju's Chonam University. Police fired tear gas cannisters to stop the protesters from marching out of the school gate.
One official claimed about 4,500 police were deployed throughout the city but a much larger number appeared to have been mobilized as dissidents marked the seventh anniversary of the Kwangju uprising, in which 194 people were killed and more than 800 wounded by official count. Dissidents claim the toll was much higher.
During the uprising, thousands of rebels seized weapons from government arsenals and took control of Kwangju government offices for nine days before being crushed by tank-led paratroopers. Chun, then an army major general, played a key role in putting down the revolt in the city about 160 miles south of Seoul.
About 400 people gathered today at a cemetery for a memorial service for the dead.
Family members, dissidents and opposition lawmakers denounced the government in speeches, and several mothers of the victims threw themselves on the graves or embraced tomb stones, crying hysterically.
A traditional altar, with a pig's head, fruit and sweets, was set up for the long memorial service, in which family members and others burned incense.
Before the start of the rite, several elderly women stoned and set on fire a car with government license plates parked in a nearby lot. Other elderly women in hanboks, the traditional Korean costume, shouted, "Down with Chun Doo-hwan," "Bring Chun Doo-hwan here" and "Bring back our sons."
Officials of the Kwangju Victims Association said relatives were angry because effigies of Chun had been removed and they believed police agents had seized them.
Plainclothes police mingled with those at the service but did not try to stop some mourners from improvising an effigy of Chun and attacking it.
However, hundreds of riot police turned back cars and pedestrians trying to go to the cemetry. Some youths scuffled with police at one checkpoint, and police detained at least 20 students who tried to enter the cemetery.
Groups of students attacked police stations in Kwangju four times Sunday, injuring five police officers. Police officials said 23 students were detained in Kwangju during the past two days.
In Seoul, 500 youths, most of them students, battled riot police Sunday night with rocks and sticks in front of Myongdong Cathedral, the headquartes of South Korea's 2.3 million Catholics.
Students and anti-government groups have marked the Kwangju anniversary each year with demonstrations and sit-ins, but this year's protests have been stronger because of Chun's April 13 order halting debate on political reform.
Chun, citing a lack of time before his planned stepdown next February and divisions within opposition ranks, suspended constitutional debate until after next year's Summer Olympics in Seoul. He said he would pick his successor under the current electoral college system.
Many opposition leaders have been pushing for the adoption of a direct presidential election instead of the electoral college system, which they claim favors the government.
Document 758
The Associated Press
May 18, 1987, Monday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 675 words
HEADLINE: Students Clash With Riot Police Across South Korea
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Thousands of students hurling rocks and firebombs battled riot police today at universities across South Korea as they marked the seventh anniversary of a bloody anti-government uprising.
"Down with the military dictatorship" and "Bring down the regime," the students chanted as they battled riot police units in Seoul and other cities.
They called for immediate democratic elections and the removal of President Chun Doo-hwan, who as an army major general played a key role in ending the uprising that began May 18, 1980, in the southern city of Kwangju.
Yonhap, the Korean news agency, reported at least 22,000 students took part in today's protests at 62 universities and colleges. However, the figure appeared too low since about 10,000 students demonstrated at eight Seoul schools alone.
Student leaders at rallies before the clashes urged followers to emulate those killed in the Kwangju uprising and use whatever means necessary.
"Join the struggle and shed more blood as they did in Kwangju," said a leader at Seoul's Yonsei University as about 2,000 students cheered and waved banners and flags with revolutionary slogans.
Students burned effigies symbolizing Chun and the United States and also chanted anti-American slogans because of their belief that Washington backs the government. "Drive out Yankee imperialism," students chanted.
A student leader at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul cut his finger with a razor and wrote "Down with fascism" and "people's public" as students cheered.
During the May 18-26, 1980, uprising, thousands of rebels seized weapons from government arsenals and took control of Kwangju government offices for nine days before being crushed by tank-led paratroopers.
By official count, 194 people were killed and more than 800 wounded in the crackdown in the city about 160 miles south of Seoul. Dissidents claim the toll was much higher.
In Kwangju today, police fired tear gas cannisters to stop several hundred students from marching from the campus of Chonam University. The students hurled stones and firebombs at police.
At a cemetery in Kwangju, about 400 crying and angry relatives and supporters gathered for a memorial service. Several elderly women stoned and set fire to a car with government license plates parked in a lot near the cemetery, and other mourners beat, stabbed and burned an effigy of Chun.
Students at schools across the country tried repeatedly to march out of campuses singing revolutionary songs and shouting anti-government slogans. Riot police in green combat uniforms with helmets and shields were waiting to bombard the marchers with tear gas and force them back.
Police used armored cars, tear gas and baton charges in efforts to confine the students to their campuses, and armored cars with multiple tear gas launchers fired hundreds of rounds to break up protests.
Students in Seoul rushed to within 10 feet of police lines to hurl firebombs. Some police, sheltering behind interlocking shields, were covered in flames but the fires were quickly extinguished.
Clouds of white tear gas from the police barrages wafted across campuses. Special martial arts units charged the students again and again to force them back.
Some students tried to arrange demonstrations in the streets, but police learned of the plans. Hundreds of students who tried to walk out of Yonsei University were bombarded with tear gas by armored cars.
Traditional Kwangju demonstrations have been larger than normal because of opposition outrage over Chun's April 13 decision to suspend constitutional debate until after the Summer Olympics are held next year in Seoul.
Opposition leaders are demanding a direct vote in presidential elections expected at the end of the year, but Chun has said the existing electoral college system will be preserved despite charges that it favors the government.
Chun says the suspension in debate on reforms is necessary to safeguard national stability and the games. He has promised to step down when his 7-year term ends in early 1987.
Document 759
Copyright 1987 The Russian Information Agency ITAR-TASS TASS
May 18, 1987, Monday
LENGTH: 159 words
HEADLINE: ANNIVERSARY OF KWANGJU UPRISING
DATELINE: TOKYO, MAY 18
BODY:
IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF GROWING TENSION SOUTH KOREA MEETS TODAY THE 7TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BRUTAL SUPPRESSION OF THE POPULAR UPRISING IN THE CITY OF KWANGJU WHERE IN MAY 1980 [TEXT OMITTED FROM SOURCE] THE PRO-AMERICAN REGIME KILLED SOME 3,000 INNOCENT CITIZENS. IN THE MORNING A COMMEMORATION MEETING WAS HELD IN SEOUL IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF TERROR. IT WAS ATTENDED BY THE LEADERS OF THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC PARTY, THE LEADING FORCE OF THE OPPOSITION. HOWEVER, NO NEWS HAVE COME FROM KWANGJU, AS BEFORE, WHERE MASS DEMONSTRATIONS WERE TO BE STAGED TODAY AGAINST THE DICTATORSHIP. ON THE EVE OF THESE ACTIONS A 3,000-STRONG CONTINGENT OF SPECIAL RIOT FORCES WAS DISPATCHED TO THE CITY. THE JAPANESE PRESS REPORTS THAT ON SUNDAY A GROUP OF STUDENTS ATTACKED TWO POLICE PRICINCTS IN KWANGJU, SHOWERING THEM WITH INCENDIARY BOTTLES. STORMY ACTIONS UNDER THE SLOGANS OF STRUGGLE AGAINST THE DICTATORSHIP HAVE BEEN GOING ON IN SEOUL FOR SEVERAL DAYS.
Document 760
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 18, 1987, MONDAY
LENGTH: 234 words
HEADLINE: pyongyang calls for democracy in south korea
DATELINE: pyongyang, may 18; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
a chief newspaper here today called on patriotic and democratic forces in south korea to unite and prevent seoul from extending its dictatorship. in an editorial on the seventh anniversary of a popular uprising in the south korean city of kwangju, the newspaper "rodong sinmun" said the current situation in south korea resembles that on the eve of the 1980 uprising. opponents of the then seoul regime held kwangju, a city 272 kilometers south of seoul, for 10 days demanding an end to the dictatorship to make room for democracy and the reunification of korea. hundreds of people were said to be killed in the uprising. the editorial praised the kwangju uprising as a "historic milestone" in the south korean people's struggle for freedom and democracy. the editorial condemned seoul's april 13 announcement that the constitutional reforms would be shelved and the next president be elected by the electoral college. the regime has trampled on the will of people in an attempt to prolong its military dictatorship indefinitely, the editorial said. to make preparations for further ruling, seoul is suppressing the "anti-government" struggle launched by the opposition, it continued. the editorial called on all south koreans to step up their struggle for democracy. in recent days, there have been demonstrations in south korea protesting the seoul regime's attempt to hang on to power.
Document 761
The Associated Press
May 17, 1987, Sunday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 665 words
HEADLINE: Students, Police Battle in Front of Seoul Cathedral
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Anti-government students hurled bricks, rocks and sticks and charged with flagpoles at riot police Sunday in a battle that began in front of Seoul's Catholic cathedral when students were blocked from marching into the streets.
About 500 students, waving flags and banners and shouting "Down with the military dictatorship!," tried to march out of Myongdong Roman Catholic Cathedral in downtown Seoul on Sunday evening after a memorial service.
Students earlier paraded at the service with coffins, symbolizing the approximately 194 people killed in the famed May 1980 Kwangju uprising.
South Korea has been hit by a weeklong wave of protests as opposition groups mark the Kwangju uprising and demand the removal of President Chun Doo-hwan's government.
Hundreds of helmeted riot police in green combat uniforms and carrying shields and batons poured out of back streets Sunday and sealed off all roads leading away from the cathedral, church headquarters in South Korea.
Students charged the lines of police at the cathedral gate, hitting out with flagpoles, kicking and punching, as police were forced back. Onlookers cheered and clapped as police gave way.
Police regrouped and police commanders warned the students over loadspeakers to disperse as they tried once more to march out. Some students picked up rocks and began hurling them at the police.
Police moved back several more times, then flung tear gas grenades into the middle of the student column. Plainclothes officers charged into the protest. Crying and choking from the tear gas, students ran for cover inside the cathedral grounds as police seized at least 25 people.
Furious students smashed rocks and bricks inside cathedral grounds to hurl at the police and at surrounding buildings. Police used more tear gas to keep them from marching out.
Catholic priests rushed in between the two sides, yelling at the students to stop throwing rocks. They persuaded most of the protesters to go back into the cathedral grounds, where the students began an all-night protest vigil.
Frightened pedestrians caught in the middle ran for safety, weeping and gagging as tear gas wafted across streets. Hundreds of people watched from behind police lines.
In Kwangju itself on Sunday, about 200 miles south of Seoul, students twice attacked police stations, throwing rocks and firebombs and injuring three officers, the Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
About 100 students were in the second attack, but were quickly dispersed by police firing tear gas, it said.
Last week, students battled police on campuses across the country, and more protests are expected.
Police are on maximum alert and reinforcements have arrived. The Korea Times said Sunday police were mounting special guard details on police stations and arsenals lest dissidents try to seize weapons and explosives.
Opposition groups insist that Chun must withdraw his April 13 decision to suspend debate on political reforms, including demands for a direct vote in presidential elections at the end of the year. Chun says the action is necessary to preserve national stability and protect the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Chun says he will not run again for president, but the opposition says the present electoral system will work to keep Chun's party and his choice for president in power.
Also on Sunday, Communist North Korea ridiculed South Korea's talk of Korean unification under a liberal democratic system.
"It is as foolish as trying to smash a rock with a head to try to achieve 'unification' under the 'system of liberal democracy,"' said an editorial by Pyongyang's official (North) Korean Central News Agency, which was monitored in Tokyo.
The agency was commenting on South Korean Unification Minister Huh Moon-do's statement Friday. Huh said the government was very disturbed about a recent declaration by the small, opposition Reunification Democratic Party that reuniting Korea transcended political and ideological considerations.
GRAPHIC: LaserPhoto SEL 1
Document 762
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 17, 1987, Sunday, AM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 498 words
HEADLINE: Police, rioters clash in Seoul
BYLINE: By JAMES KIM
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
About 500 people, shouting ''down with military dictatorship'' and carrying crosses as they commemorated a bloody anti-government uprising seven years ago, clashed Sunday with riot police in downtown Seoul.
The melee erupted at the Myongdong Cathedral following an evening mass remembering the May 1980 revolt in Kwangju, 170 miles south of Seoul. Riot police fired tear gas to end the battle. No serious injuries or arrests were reported.
The demonstrators emerged from the Catholic church with crosses, placards, pickets and streamers. One sign read: ''Down with the military dictatorship which committed the Kwangju massacre.''
After battling the 300-member police contingent for half an hour, about 300 protesters staged a sit-in on the church grounds for about an hour before going home.
A leaflet distributed by the demonstrators said, ''Kwangju is not over yet. Kwangju is our national cross, our eternal flag. We rise up in firm unity.''
The nine-day 1980 uprising in South Korea's fifth largest city was sparked by a sweeping government crackdown on dissent. The government said nearly 200 people were killed, but dissidents claim the death toll was much higher. Commemoration protests have been held every year since the revolt.
Nationwide, 120,000 police were on a weeklong maximum alert to put down any anti-government disturbances in commemoration of the revolt. The alert will last until next Friday.
There has been increasing unrest in Korea since April 13, when President Chun Doo Hwan ended negotiations with the opposition over constitutional reform, saying his successor would be chosen indirectly under the present electoral system because there was not sufficient time for a peaceful change of government before he steps down in February.
Kwangju, itself, was generally quiet Sunday with planned protests failing to materialize in the face of a strong police presence.
But police were bracing for demonstrations Monday when dissidents plan a morning memorial at a cemetery where 101 victims are buried. Church servies are planned in the afternoon.
Students attempted Sunday to stage a demonstration at Kwangju's central square, where the 1980 rebellion was crushed by crack army troops, but at least 1,500 riot police were standing by.
At one point, about 100 dissident youths hurled rocks and firebombs at a police post in Kwangju, injuring two policemen. There had been a similar attack earlier in the day.
In Seoul where he is under house arrest, dissident leader Kim Dae Jung issued a statement to mark the anniversary and pledged to his utmost to work for democratization of the country.
''I do not support revenge,'' Kim said in the statement. ''However, the truths of the tragedy must be brought to light, the honor of Kwangju people must be restored, and the victims must be given full compensation.''
Kim was sentenced to death for alleged involvement in the revolt. His sentence has since been reduced to 20 years and suspended.
GRAPHIC: PICTURE
Document 763
The Associated Press
May 16, 1987, Saturday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 605 words
HEADLINE: Police Surround Universities To Combat Student Protesters
BYLINE: By PAUL SHIN, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Riot police backed by armored cars surrounded universities in a major show of strength Saturday as students clashed with police in Seoul and four other cities.
The national police force was on top alert across the country and reinforcements were trucked in from rural areas. Thousands of riot police in combat uniforms were posted at the gates of universities and colleges after five days of violent protests.
Hundreds of students at two Seoul universities and schools in the provincial cities of Chunju, Taegu, Kongju and Chungju battled police, hurling firebombs and rocks at riot squads who fired tear gas to disperse them.
"Down with the military dictatorship!," the students yelled. "Down with the violent police!"
At Seoul National University on the outskirts of the city, about 1,000 students fought a running two-hour battle with hundred of riot police, with gasoline bombs and stones against tear gas. At least three police were hurt.
The students, wearing red, white and blue headbands with revolutionary slogans, screamed, "Drive out U.S. imperialists who support military dictatorship!"
Thousands of riot police were deployed in provincial cities, including Kwangju, some 200 miles south of Seoul. The city was the scene of a bloody anti-government uprising in 1980 in which least 194 people were killed. A formal memorial service for the victims was scheduled for Monday. Students across the country have been demonstrating to mark the anniversary.
About 200 people staged a demonstration in downtown Kwangju on Saturday, which was quickly broken up by police who seized several protesters and chased the rest away.
Students gathered at several Seoul universities to discuss plans for more demonstrations and call for greater efforts by opposition groups against President Chun Doo-hwan's government.
Columns of students marched around campuses of several Seoul schools where no clashes occurred, singing revolutionary songs calling for Chun's ouster. The students marched to the school gates where their way was blocked by hundreds of helmeted police with interlocked shields.
Student leaders, who refused to be identified, said they were waiting for major protests Monday on the anniversary of the start of the Kwangju uprising.
A wave of protests has hit South Korea since Chun announced April 13 that he was calling off talks with the opposition on its demands for a direct vote instead of the existing electoral college system in presidential elections expected at the end of the year.
The opposition says the present system favors those in power.
Chun said the talks would be suspended until after the 1988 Seoul Olympics to protect the games and safeguard national stability.
In another anti-government action in Seoul, 700 students at Hanyang University clashed with riot police briefly Saturday as they tried to leave their campus for a marathon race, witnesses said.
Police firing tear gas blocked off Hanyang's main gate, they said. Thirty students were taken away.
Violent protests were reported in Chunju, Taegu, Kongju and Chungju but it was not immediately known if injuries or arrests resulted.
About a dozen students at Hanshin University in Seoul shaved their heads Saturday as an anti-government protest. The school's student government said 300 students, including three women, have shaved their heads since May 7.
Seven hundred and fifty-one 751 Buddhist monks joined the anti-government protests Saturday, demanding in a statement that Chun retract the April 13 decision.
Despite the protests, no signs emerged that the government would back away from its decision.
GRAPHIC: LaserPhotos SEL2,3
Document 764
The Associated Press
May 16, 1987, Saturday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 522 words
HEADLINE: Rebellion Scene Heightens Tension
BYLINE: By EDWIN Q. WHITE, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
"Look at this. Look at what it says," a student said as he dug into his battered briefcase and displayed a copy of the South Korean constitution.
"Look at Articles 9 and 10," he said. "They're all about civil and human rights; no discrimination, freedom and liberty. That's not true. That's why we are fighting. That's why our struggle must go on."
The student, a senior at Chonnam University who refused to be identified, represented perhaps a major viewpoint here on the eve of the seventh anniversary of an uprising that is an open wound in the recent history of South Korea.
This city of nearly 900,000 people, about 200 miles south of Seoul, was relatively quiet on Saturday. By nightfall, there had been only one minor demonstration reported involving about 200 people. It was broken up quickly with four or five protesters seen taken away by police.
Throughout the past week there have been a number of violent demonstrations in Kwangju, mostly on university campuses and centering on the usual demands of "down with the dictatorship" of President Chun Doo-hwan and other anti-government slogans.
While Kwangju is not again a city under siege, security has been extremely heavy. Seven riot police buses Saturday stood in front of the provincial capital building, which was the center of the battle in May 1980.
Along the main street leading to the building, there were other buses and police in full combat uniform stationed at five-yard intervals.
The violence of the Kwangju uprising began on May 18, 1980, one day after martial law was imposed across all of South Korea. Political leaders who were arrested at that time included Kim Dae-jung, who comes from this part of the country, Cholla-Namdo province.
The region has long considered itself outcast from the main stream of development, affluence and rewards of South Korea's new-found prosperity.
The rebellion went on for nine days before it was savagely put down by troops. By official count, 194 people were killed and more than 800 injured. However, opposition forces, dissidents and relatives of the victims claim the toll was far higher.
Many people have challenged Chun's government over its legitimacy, with many of the charges centering on the military action in Kwangju.
The Kwangju rebellion climaxed a period of demonstrations and protests across South Korea in May 1980 during a brief period of political freedom after the October 26, 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee.
The turbulence brought a military crackdown led by Gen. Chun, who took off his general's stars later to become president.
This Saturday in Kwangju, in apparent defiance of authority, there was a photo exhibition on the second floor of a Catholic building in the downtown heart of the city that had been the scene of heavy fighting in 1980.
The pictures showed the violence of that time, caskets of the dead, many of them covered with the Korean national flag. Joss sticks burned at a small altar paying homage to those who died seven years ago. Members of their family appeared in traditional white mourning clothes, many of them wiping away tears.
Document 765
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 16, 1987, Saturday, AM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 454 words
HEADLINE: Demonstrations continue to commemorate uprising
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Weeping mothers of victims killed in a 1980 revolt opened a photo exhibit on the tragedy Saturday and students across Korea held anti-government protests to commemorate the bloody insurrection.
The National Police Headquarters in Seoul said about 3,000 youths held campus rallies and some clashed with riot police in violent demonstrations during commemorations of the rebellion that began May 18, 1980, in Kwangju.
The uprising in South Korea's fifth largest city was sparked by a sweeping government crackdown on dissent. The government said nearly 200 people were killed, but dissidents claim the death toll was much higher. Commemoration protests have been held every year since the revolt.
Riot police spread through the city Saturday and a scheduled demonstration did not materialize Saturday night in Kwangju's central square. But students vowed to protest in Kwangju Sunday and Monday.
Professor Song Ki-suk, a leading dissident in Kwangju, said another massive uprising was unlikely in the city, despite increasing unrest across Korea over President Chun Doo Hwan's April 13 decision to end debate over constitutional reform.
''Though the people are enraged, they have strong fears, so I do not expect another uprising in Kwangju,'' he said. ''Almost all Kwangju people have seen the sight of killing. They do not want to see it again.''
Gruesome photographs of the carnage that ended the revolt on May 27, 1980, went on display Saturday at the National Council of Churches building in Kwangju. About 100 riot policemen surrounded the building but did not interfere with the exhibit.
''My son, that is my son,'' wailed one weeping woman, clad in a traditional white mourning gown, as she touched a color picture of scattered bodies. Other mothers also wept.
The exhibit attracted more than 2,000 people, half of whom joined a fledgling petitition drive to press Chun to reopen negotiations on constitutional revision.
On April 13, Chun ended talks with the opposition, saying his successor would be chosen indirectly under the present electoral system because there was not sufficient time for a peaceful change of government before he steps down in February. He said constitutional debate may be resumed after the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.
About 1,500 students of Seoul National University, demanding the constitution be changed to allow direct elections, staged a campus rally Saturday and clashed violently with riot police. The students hurled rocks and firebombs at police, who responded with tear gas. The students vowed to take their anti-government campaign to the streets beginning Tuesday.
Buddhist monks issued a statement in Seoul, seeking resumption of the constitutional debate.
Document 766
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 16, 1987, Saturday, PM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 617 words
HEADLINE: Korea braces for clashes on anniversary of uprising
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
The acrid smell of tear gas lingered on campuses today after a week of clashes between students and riot police, with more protests expected to commemorate a bloody 1980 insurrection.
Police across the nation were on maximum alert to block large protests expected Sunday to mark the May 1980 ''Kwangju Uprising.'' About 120,000 police were ordered to remain on alert until next Friday.
On Wednesday and Thursday 40,000 police raided universities and dissident offices confiscating anti-government leaflets and posters. They also searched bus and train terminals, hotels and Buddhist temples for dissidents planning actions against the government.
Dissident sources said they would stage strong protest actions Sunday.
Seven years ago a government crackdown on dissidents, including the arrest of leading dissident Kim Dae Jung, sparked a revolt in Kwangju, South Korea's fifth largest city 170 miles south of Seoul. The city remained under rebels' control for nine days.
The uprising began May 18 when police broke up a small demonstration of students protesting the crackdown and other harsh measures imposed when martial law, initially declared Oct. 18, 1979, was expanded to place the entire country under military control.
The attack by police and troops angered the local population and protests rapidly escalated. Within days 100,000 people were in the streets. On May 20, police were forced to abandon the city to the rebels.
The government brought in crack army troops and by May 27 had retaken all but the central area of Kwangju. In a dawn attack, troops smashed the remnants of the rebellion, leaving 189 people dead by official count. Dissidents claim casualties were much heavier.
Students at Chosun and Chonnam universities in Kwangju, along with other students on campuses around the country, have been clashing with police all week, in advance of the weekend anniversary.
Kwangju is the largest city in Korea's southwestern region, historically a seat of opposition to the central government in Seoul. Kim Dae Jung comes from near the city.
Kim Dae Jung cannot attend memorial protests as he has been kept under house arrest since April 8. He is banned from politics because of a 1980 sedition conviction.
The Kwangju uprising is seen by many in the opposition as the opening salvo against dissent by the Chun Doo Hwan government and a rallying point for growing anti-Americanism in Korea.
While Chun was not president at the time of the incident, he was head of the Defense Security Command that coordinated the harsh military response to the revolt and the retaking of the city.
Chun, who says he was only acting on orders from then-President Choi Kyu-hah during the uprising, was elected president under martial law three months later.
Many students, dissidents and church leaders believe the United States approved the violent military action against the rebels.
Technically, all South Korean armed forces including the troops that crushed the rebellion are under the operational control of the United Nations Command, which is always headed by a U.S. general.
Using that linkage, students and dissidents charge the United States tacitly agreed with the decision to violently retake the city that led to the bloodshed.
U.S. officials argue, however, the U.N. Command has operational control over South Korean forces only for actions against external threats. South Korean troop movement for internal reasons is not under the jurisdiction of the command, they say.
Given the pervasive U.S. presence in Korea, including 41,000 troops permanently stationed here, students and dissidents argue the United States could have prevented the tragedy in Kwangju.
Document 767
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 16, 1987, SATURDAY
LENGTH: 248 words
HEADLINE: more student protests staged in south korea
DATELINE: pyongyang, may 16; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
some 10,000 students on 34 campuses took part in anti-government demonstrations all over south korea yesterday in the teeth of a "class-a" alert maintained by the local police across the country. police said the protests yesterday involved 4,400 students at a dozen major universities in seoul. eyewithesses were quoted as saying at least 50 students were injuired in campus clashes. as more demonstrations were expected in the runup to the seventh anniversary of kwangju uprising, which falls upon on may 18, the police had searched some 110 campuses across the nation and arrested hundreds of students before calling a week long "class-a" alert beginning may 15. at chunam university in kwangju, scene of a civilian upheaval and a bloody action of repression on may 18, 1980, which left 200 dead, some 1,000 students battled with riot police during a fifth day of demonstration. they chanted "down with the fascist regime" and "let's oust u.s. imperialists, abettor of the kwangju massacre," while hurling bricks and petrol bombs at the police. a rock-throwing battle erupted at yonsei university, where some 2,000 students clashed with riot police, throwing rocks and fire bombs for hours, reports from seoul said. student protests against the government have gained momentum since april 13 when south korean "president" chun doo hwan announced a decision to end the debate on constitutional revisions and want his successor to be elected under the current electoral system.
Document 768
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 15, 1987, Friday, AM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 379 words
HEADLINE: South Korean police placed on alert
BYLINE: By JAMES KIM
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
The government ordered South Korea's 120,000 police officers on ''maximum alert'' Friday to head off rallies and demonstrations by students to commemorate a bloody 1980 revolt that killed about 200 people.
In the first hours of the weeklong alert, students and riot police clashed on campuses in Seoul and Kwangju, and protests were held in several other cities.
National Police officials said more than 9,600 students on 29 campuses were involved in demonstrations Friday; witnesses and news reports said the number of protesters exceeded 10,000.
The student actions were the latest campus rallies and street demonstrations to mark the seventh anniversary of a 1980 revolt in Kwangju, the country's fifth largest city, about 170 miles south of Seoul.
The revolt erupted May 18, 1980, to protest a government crackdown on dissent. Rebels held the city for nine days before army troops moved in. The government said about 200 people, many of them students, were killed, but dissidents claim the death toll was much higher.
Since the Kwangju uprising, students have staged protests annually. The demonstrations are expected to climax on the anniversary Monday.
The government said the nation's 120,000 police officers were put on a seven-day ''maximum alert'' beginning at 9 a.m. Friday ''to enforce precautionary measures against disturbances.''
Police are empowered to stop, question and search people on the street, a government spokesman said. They also were ordered to tighten security at key government buildings and to break up anti-government protests.
About 3,000 students battled riot police with rocks and firebombs at a demonstration at Yonsei University in Seoul. The students were protesting the police storming of their campus earlier this week to remove 36 students fasting for the fourth day to demand direct presidential elections.
The students said they will boycott classes until the police alert is lifted next week. Student leaders said another large anti-government protest was planned for Monday.
Also Friday, about 1,500 students at Chonnam University in Kwangju staged another in a series of violent demonstration demanding compensation for the victims of the 1980 uprising. News reports said police removed 71 demonstrators.
GRAPHIC: PICTURE
Document 769
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 15, 1987, Friday, PM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 469 words
HEADLINE: Police tighten grip over the country
BYLINE: By JAMES KIM
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Police went on a weeklong ''maximum alert'' today in anticipation of student and dissident protests commemorating a bloody nine-day uprising seven years ago.
The move was taken to weaken anti-government protests over the weekend to marking the May 18, 1980, revolt in Kwangju, 170 miles south of Seoul.
Nearly 200 people, many of them students, were killed in Kwangju during protests against the government's crackdown on dissent, according to the official count. But dissidents claim casualties were far higher.
Under an order from national headquarters in Seoul, police are empowered to stop, question and search people on the street, a government spokesman said. Police were also ordered to tighten security at key government buildings and to break up anti-government protests.
During a nationwide police dragnet one day before the national alert went in effect, the 120,000-strong police force combed streets, buses, train depots and Buddhist temples in search of people planning weekend demonstrations, detaining 2,100 suspects.
The spokesman said the alert went into effect at 9 a.m. today and will last until 9 a.m. next Friday.
''This alert is designed to enforce precautionary measures against disturbances,'' the spokesman said.
Students have been staging protests nearly every day in Seoul and major provincial cities as the Kwangju uprising anniversary nears. On Thursday, about 10,000 students staged rallies and protests and battled police on 34 campuses across the nation.
Meanwhile, the government charged that the new hard-line opposition party led by dissidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae Jung is abandoning liberalism in its policy favoring national reunification.
National Unification Minister Huh Moon-do told a news conference the Reunification Democratic Party ''gives unification per se precedence over unification based on the liberal democratic system, which is our basic national ideal.''
''It is doubtlessly derived from the notion that unification comes first and that the liberal democratic system could well be abandoned for the sake of unification,'' Huh said.
The opposition party said Thursday that it is committed to liberal democracy and does not pursue reunification under communist terms. The ruling Democratic Justice Party said the statement was not enough and the controversial plank must be officially revised.
The government will question drafters of the plank, as it is in violation of the National Security Law that bans acts and statements favoring or sympathizing with North Korean causes, a spokesman said.
If the plank is not officially revised and is found illegal, the government could seek to dissolve the opposition party through a ruling of the Constitutional Committee, which reviews the legality and legitimacy of political parties.
Document 770
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 14, 1987, Thursday, AM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 428 words
HEADLINE: Students commemorate 1980 'May Massacre'
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Nearly 10,0000 students staged anti-government protests Thursday on 34 campuses across South Korea to commemorate the army's crushing of an uprising seven years ago. More than 2,000 people were arrested in a nationwide sweep to prevend further unrest.
Police said more than 9,800 youths participated in the protests, the largest in South Korea in recent weeks. In some of the demonstrations students battled police with firebombs and rocks. Police retaliated with tear gas, news reports and witnesses said.
The protests commemorated a bloody nine-day uprising in Kwangju, the nation's fifth-largest city 170 miles south of Seoul, that erupted on May 18, 1980, to protest a government crackdown on dissent.
The revolt was put down by soldiers. Nearly 200 people, many of them students, were killed in the insurrection, according to an official count. Dissidents claim casualties were much higher.
Authorities said the nation's 120,000 police will go on a week-long alert across the country Friday to deal with any disturbances students and other foes of the government might stage during the weekend.
Police conducted an extensive overnight search of campuses, bus terminals, railroad stations, Buddhist temples and hotels for dissidents planning anti-government protests.
Police said they arrested 2,166 people during the search. Of those, 1,171 were put to summary trial, 960 were freed with warnings and 35 were turned over to other authorities for further investigation. Police said 761 people will be charged later.
At Chonnam University in Kwangju, about 1,500 students beat up a police officer dragged into the school premises while on patrol, and fought 500 riot police who moved in to rescue him.
A Chonnam student leader said in a telephone interview that the protesters chanted, ''drive out the Americans who control the military dictatorship,'' ''punish the masterminds of the May Massacre'' and ''down with military dictatorship.''
At least seven students were injured in the clash with police, the student leader said. Police said 17 officers were injured. There was no report of arrests.
In Seoul, about 1,000 students of Korea University burned an effigy symbolizing military dictatorship and clashed with 500 riot police. The students, carrying torches, lobbed firebombs and rocks at police. About 10 students were apprehended during the encounter, news reports said.
Since 1981 students have marked the Kwangju uprising with violent demonstrations. Protests are expected to grow and reach a peak on the anniversary next Monday.
Document 771
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 14, 1987, Thursday, PM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 491 words
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
At least 40,000 police searched colleges, railroad stations, bus terminals, hotels and Buddhist temples across South Korea today for dissidents planning weekend anti-government protests.
The National Police also announced a weeklong nationwide ''maximum alert'' would begin Friday, in advance of expected protests commemorating a bloody May 1980 revolt in the provincial city of Kwangju.
Some 40,000 police across the country combed campuses, hotels, Buddhist temples, bus terminals and railroad stations and held random street checks Wednesday night and this morning, officials said.
Police searched 110 campuses in Seoul and other major cities, confiscating firebombs, sticks for placards and anti-government leaflets and posters, police said.
The officials said the dragnet, from 9 p.m. Wednesday until 4 a.m. today, caught 2,166 people. Of those, 1,171 were placed on summary trial for minor crimes, officials said.
Summary trials, before a judge without a jury, are held for minor crimes and a convict can only be sentenced to 30 days in jail.
More than 2,500 students at two universities in Seoul and Kwangju, 170 miles south of the capital, clashed with police today, witnesses said.
At Korea University in Seoul, riot police broke up a meeting of 1,000 students who gathered to form a special committee to push for election reforms, witnesses said. About 10 students were detained, witnesses said.
At Chunnam University in Kwangju, 1,500 students, chanting ''Punish the masterminds of the Kwangju massacre,'' clashed with riot police, a student leader said in a telephone interview.
Students seriously injured a policeman who was on patrol in front of the school today, the news agency Yonhap reported. The students forced the 32-year-old officer into a hall on the campus and beat him with sticks. The injured man was rescued by fellow officers and taken to a hospital, the report said.
At least seven students were injured when police entered the campus in search of the officer, news reports said.
The protests were in advance of the anniversary of the May 1980 revolt.
The ''Kwangju Uprising,'' sparked by the arrest of leading dissidents May 17, 1980, culminated in a civil revolt when rebels took control of South Korea's fifth largest city for nine days.
Crack army troops put down the rebellion in nine days, killing 200 people, according to the official account. Dissidents charge the number of deaths was much higher.
Dissidents, students, church leaders and opposition politicians have commemorated the event each year and used it to demand political reforms and democracy.
This year, the dissidents have called for Chun to reverse an April 13 decision ending talks on how his successor will be elected. Chun says he will step down in February 1988.
Chun favors the use of the current electoral college system to pick the next president. The opposition has demanded direct presidential elections.
Document 772
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 14, 1987, THURSDAY
LENGTH: 257 words
HEADLINE: student protests sweep across south korea
DATELINE: pyongyang, may 14; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
more than 7,000 students in universities across south korea held anti-government protests wednesday to mark the seventh anniversary of the 1980 "kwangju uprising.". a korean police spokesman said there were student protests on 21 campuses in seoul and provincial cities. at least 22 people, including five students and 17 policemen, were injured in the campus clashes, said reports from south korea. the incidents came four days before the anniversary of the bloody anti-government uprising in which residents of kwangju seized control of that southern provincial capital to protest the arrest of leading dissidents before armed troops cracked down and killed 200 people. the most violent protest occurred at yonsei university in western seoul where some 3,000 students participated in the protest and hurled hundreds of firebombs and rocks at police . the clash came early wednesday morning when the riot police moved in with tear gas to end an overnight student sit-in and arrested 56 of them. at least five students were injured in the demonstration, including one who was hit by a tear gas grenade, news reports said. in kwanjgu, about 1,000 students at chonnam university battled riot police for hours, injuring 17 policemen. there were no reports of violence from the numerous other demonstrations. the growing protests come after president chun doo hwan announced on april 14 he opposes talks on election law reforms. some opposition leaders are preparing for nationwide protests this weekend to commemorate the uprising.
Document 773
The Associated Press
May 13, 1987, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 575 words
HEADLINE: Students Stage Violent Protests Throughout South Korea
BYLINE: By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Nearly 10,000 students held rallies or clashed with riot police in violent anti-government protests throughout the country Wednesday, witnesses and news reports said.
Yonhap News Agency reported that 6,000 students took part in anti-government campus rallies and demonstrations at 21 universities in the country, but the report apparently was incomplete.
In Seoul alone, more than 6,300 students from three universities staged anti-government rallies on campuses or clashed with police, witnesses said.
At the Christian-founded Yonsei University in western Seoul, about 1,000 riot police used armored vehicles and tear gas to break up a protest by 3,000 students demanding the release of 36 hunger strikers seized in a dawn raid.
Yonsei students yelling "Down with military dictatorship" and "American imperialism get out" and hurling firebombs and rocks tried repeatedly to march out of their school but were held back by police who used tear gas heavily.
At least five students were injured in the hourlong fighting, witnesses said. Several police officers were hit by firebombs as students threw bottles filled with gasoline at close range, but no policemen were injured.
At the state-run Seoul National University in the capital, 3,000 students, shouting against the government and the United States, marched around their campus for one hour, witnesses said. No clashes were reported there.
In eastern Seoul, 300 students of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies threw firebombs and rocks and clashed repeatedly with riot police, who retaliated with tear gas.
In the southern provincial city of Kwangju, 17 policemen were injured in clashes with 2,000 students of Chonnam University hurling rocks and gasoline bombs, the Yonhap News Agency said. Police detained six students.
Chonnam students have fought police in violent anti-government protests during the past two days as they prepared to mark the seventh anniversary Monday of a bloody nine-day armed uprising in 1980.
The Kwangju uprising, the worst in modern Korean history, left at least 194 people killed and more than 800 others injured or wounded, by official count. Dissident sources claim the toll was much higher.
In Seoul, the National Council of Churches, which represents many of the nation's 8 million Protestants, issued a statement criticizing the government after police clashed with people at an overnight protest prayer meeting.
The council said at least 18 Christian ministers and lay activists had been hurt by government "violence and brutality" during the clashes before the meeting Tuesday night.
About 1,200 Christian ministers and laymen attended the meeting at a Methodist church, witnesses said. Scuffles broke out when 750 police tried to block some from entering the church.
Anti-government protests are common in South Korea but they appear to have intensified in recent weeks over President Chun Doo-hwan's order on April 13 halting debate on the country's controversial constitution.
In issuing the order, Chun restated his plan to step down Feb. 24 at the end of his seven-year term but said his successor will be picked under the current electoral college system. He said South Korea needed stability to safeguard next year's Seoul Olympics.
The opposition, which believes the electoral college is weighted in favor of Chun's party, has called for constitutional changes to provide for direct, popular election of the president.
Document 774
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 13, 1987, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 499 words
HEADLINE: More nationwide protests
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Nearly 7,000 students held nationwide protests Wednesday commemorating the seventh anniversary of a bloody anti-government revolt and challenging President Chun Doo Hwan to allow direct election of his successor.
The protests came four days before the actual anniversary of the 1980 ''Kwangju Uprising'' when residents of that provincial capital, protesting arrests of leading dissidents, took control of the city 170 miles south of Seoul.
In the clashes that followed, crack army troops put down the rebellion in nine days, killing 200 people, according to the official account. Dissidents charge the number of deaths was much higher.
A spokesman for the National Police said 7,000 students staged protests on 21 campuses in Seoul and provincial cities, and at least 39 students were being questioned by police.
News reports said 22 people, including five students and 17 policemen, were injured in the campus clashes.
The most violent protest occurred at Yonsei University in western Seoul, where about 1,500 students hurled more than 100 firebombs and hundreds of rocks at police. The helmeted riot police countered with tear gas fired from shoulder-held rifles and a mobile pepper gas launcher, witnesses said.
At least five students were hurt, including one hit by a tear gas grenade, news reports said.
The two-hour demonstration, the most violent since April 19, was ignited by the arrest earlier in the day of 36 students fasting on campus since Saturday to demand direct election of the next president.
Police sources said the arrests were made to prevent the hunger strike from escalating into a large-scale protest to mark the Kwangju uprising.
In Kwanjgu, about 1,000 students at Chonnam University fought riot police for 2 hours, injuring 17 policemen, news reports said. It was the third straight day of protests on the campus.
Local news reports said police searched the offices of 11 dissident groups and confiscated 12 volumes of pictures of the 1980 uprising, 3,000 ''seditious'' leaflets and other materials.
At Seoul National University, 3,000 students gathered to demand that Chun revive talks on election law reforms. There were no clashes, witnesses said.
Reports said another 1,500 students held rallies on smaller campuses.
The protests, which have been building since last week, come as opposition lawmakers, dissident students and church leaders prepared for nationwide protests this weekened to commemorate the ''Kwangju Uprising.''
Chun's April 13 decision to choose his successor using the current electoral college system has spawned protests among students, professors, opposition lawmakers and religious leaders.
The opposition charges the system is heavily weighted in favor of the ruling party, while the other groups mainly challenge the legitimacy of the document, written under martial law in 1980.
Chun was first elected president during martial law in 1980, three months after the Kwangju uprising. His term ends in February.
Document 775
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 13, 1987, Wednesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 515 words
BYLINE: By SPENCER SHERMAN
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Nearly 7,000 students across the nation held protests today commemorating the seventh anniversary of a bloody anti-government revolt and challenging President Chun Doo Hwan to allow the direct election of his successor.
The protests came four days before the anniversary of the 1980 Kwangju Uprising when residents of that provincial capital, protesting the arrest of leading dissident Kim Dae Jung, took control of the city.
Army troops put down the rebellion, killing some 200 people, according to the official account. Dissidents charge more died in the uprising.
A spokesman for the National Police said some 7,000 students staged protests on 21 campuses in Seoul and provincial cities and at least 39 students were being questioned by police.
Some 22 people, including five students and 17 policemen, were injured in the clashes on the campuses, news reports said.
The most violent protest occurred at Yonsei University in western Seoul where some 1,500 students hurled more than 100 firebombs and hundreds of rocks at riot police during a two-hour demonstration. The protest began after the arrests of 36 students who had been fasting since last Saturday.
Police countered the attack with tear gas, witnesses said.
The two-hour Yonsei demonstration began after the arrests of 36 students who had been fasting on campus since last Saturday demanding direct election of the next president.
In Kwanjgu, about 1,000 students at Chonnam University fought riot police for 2 hours, injuring 17 policemen, news reports said. It was the third straight day of protests on the campus.
In a related move, a newspaper reported the government was considering ordering the dissolution of a new hard-line opposition party formed by Kim and his ally Kim Young-sam.
The influential Dong-A Ilbo, or East Asia Daily, reported the Justice Ministry was considering disbanding the Reunification Democratic Party if it did not change its position on reunification of the divided peninsula.
In a May 1 inaugural speech of the RDP, Kim Young-sam said reunification of the peninsula was the most important national goal, transcending political ideology.
Government and ruling Democratic Justice Party officials have denounced Kim for the remarks and said the party position could reveal a readiness to accept reunification under communist rule.
It is a violation of National Security laws in South Korea to support reunification under communist North Korea or express sympathy for North Korean policies.
Today's clash was the most violent student action since April 19 when anti-government youths battled police to commemorate the anniversary of a 1960 student uprising that toppled a government.
Chun's April 13 decision to choose his successor using the current electoral college system has spawned protests among students, professors, opposition lawmakers and religious leaders.
The opposition charges the current system is heavily weighted in favor of the ruling party, while the other groups mainly challenge the legitimacy of the document, written under martial law in 1980.
Document 776
Copyright 1987 Kyodo News Service Japan Economic Newswire
MAY 8, 1987, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 624 words
DATELINE: TOKYO, MAY 8
BODY:
-- JAPAN AUTOMOBILE IMPORTERS ASSOCIATION SAYS SALES OF IMPORTED AUTOMOBILES IN JAPAN IN APRIL IS UP 45.4 PC OVER CORRESPONDING MONTH OF LAST YEAR TO 7,617 UNITS.
-- SOME 30 ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVORS HOLD SIT-IN IN HIROSHIMA TO PROTEST FRENCH AND SOVIET NUCLEAR TESTS IN MURUROA ATOLL AND SEMIPALATINSK.
-- EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF JAPAN HAS AGREED TO EXTEND BUYER'S CREDIT TOTALING 2.7 BIL. YEN JOINTLY WITH THREE OTHER JAPANESE COMMERCIAL BANKS TO ALGERIA'S STATE-OWNED OIL AND PETROCHEMICAL COMPANY, SONATRACH.
-- DAEWOO MOTOR CO. STARTS MARKETING IN S. KOREA 1-TON TRUCK PRODUCED UNDER TECHNICAL TIE- UP WITH NISSAN MOTOR CO.
-- AIR NAURU, FLAG CARRIER OF ISLAND COUNTRY IN CENTRAL PACIFIC, TO REOPEN ITS NAURU-GUAM- KAGOSHIMA ROUTE MAY 27.
-- SONY CORP. CONCLUDES AGREEMENT WITH CAPITAL CITIES/ABC OF U.S. IN WHICH SONY WILL SUPPLY U.S. NETWORK AND ITS ASSOCIATED TELEVISION STATIONS WITH BETACAM AND BETACAM SP ELECTRIC NEWS GATHERING VIDEO AND EDITING EQUIPMENT.
-- NEW RESEARCH INSTITUTE AIMED AT DEVELOPING GENETIC MATERIALS OF MICROORGANISMS USED IN BREWING TO BEGIN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IN LATE MAY.
-- JAPAN'S BROADLY DEFINED MONEY SUPPLY IN MARCH GROWS 9.0 PC FROM ONE YEAR EARLIER.
-- U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR TO ARRIVE IN JAPAN MAY 17 FOR UNOFFICIAL VISIT.
-- SPORTING GOODS MANUFACTURER ASICS CORP. IS STUDYING POSSIBILITY OF PRODUCING SPORTS SHOES IN CHINA AND SPORTSWEAR IN U.S.
-- MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES PURCHASE BY ITS U.S. AFFILITATE OF WESTERN LITHO PLATE AND SUPPLY CO., MAKER OF PRINTING PLATES IN MISSOURI.
-- BANK OF JAPAN SOURCE DENIES SPECULATION JAPAN AND U.S. MAY AGREE TO COORDINATED DISCOUNT RATE CHANGES TO SHORE UP DOLLAR AHEAD OF VENICE SUMMIT OF SEVEN INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACIES.
-- OECD PREDICTS JAPANESE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF 2.25 PC FOR 1987, DOWN FROM 2.75 PC FORECAST IN DECEMBER= OECD'S 24 MEMBER NATIONS PROJECTED TO SHOW AVERAGE 2.5 PC GROWTH AGAINST PREVIOUSLY PREDICTED 2.75 PC.
-- KDD SEES STRONG POSSIBILITY OF ACCORD BEING REACHED ON CONSTRUCTION OF FOURTH TRANSPACIFIC CABLE AT MEETING OF INT'L TELECOM SERVICE FIRMS IN KYOTO IN SEPTEMBER.
-- YEN'S RISE ENABLES PRICE CUTS TOTALING 10.8 TRIL. YEN BETWEEN FOURTH QUARTER OF 1985 AND FIRST QUARTER OF 1987, ACCORDING TO EPA SURVEY.
-- BROKERAGE FIRMS, TRUST BANKS AND ELECTRIC POWER COMPANIES SHARPLY BOOST TAXABLE INCOMES IN 1986 IN CONTRAST TO POOR SHOWINGS BY ELECTRIC MACHINERY AND STEEL MAKERS, TEIKOKU DATA BANK REPORTS= BUT TOYOTA MOTOR RETAINS TOP SPOT FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT YEAR DESPITE SIZABLE INCOME DROP.
-- TOKYO COMMODITY EXCHANGE FOR INDUSTRY TO INCREASE MEMBERSHIP IN ITS PRECIOUS METALS DIVISION FROM PRESENT 49 TO AROUND 55.
-- BANK OF JAPAN BUYS ANOTHER 200 BIL. YEN WORTH OF CDS FOLLOWING PURCHASE OF 100 BIL. YEN WORTH WEDNESDAY TO GUIDE SHORT-TERM INTEREST RATES LOWER.
-- MAZDA MOTOR PLANS TO IMPORT PORTION OF CAPELLAS TO BE PRODUCED BY THE ITS U.S. ARM FOR SALE UNDER FORD BRAND.
-- BALANCE OF TRUST ASSETS HELD BY 17 TRUST AND BANKING FIRMS REACHES 122.6 TRIL. YEN AT END OF FISCAL 1986, UP 38.2 PC FROM PREVIOUS YEAR.
-- KANAGAWA GOV. NAGASU PRESENTS COMPROMISE PROPOSAL TO END FOUR-YEAR DISPUTE OVER CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSING FOR U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL.
-- ABOUT 4,300 KOREAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE 10 DAYS BEFORE SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF KWANGJU INCIDENT.
-- PRESIDENT AQUINO REPEALS DECREES ISSUED BY EX-PRESIDENT MARCOS. DECREES IMPOSED DEATH PENALTY FOR SUBVERSION AND REBELLION.
-- NORTH KOREAN PRESIDENT KIM IL SUNG LIKELY TO VISIT BEIJING MAY 20 OR 21 FOR TALKS WITH CHINESE LEADERS.
-- CHINA ORDERS KYODO'S BEIJING CORRESPONDENT TO LEAVE CHINA WITHIN 10 DAYS FOR ALLEGEDLY OBTAINING NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE THROUGH ILLEGAL MEANS.
Document 777
Copyright 1987 U.P.I.
May 5, 1987, Tuesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 501 words
HEADLINE: Christian hunger strike escalates with anti-U.S. statements
BYLINE: By JAMES KIM
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Three dozen Christian dissidents today branded the United States as ''an accomplice'' in the scores of deaths during a 1980 anti-government protest and demanded President Reagan halt support of President Chun Doo Hwan's ''military dictatorship.''
The 36 protesters, all Presbyterian church ministers, were in the ninth day of a hunger strike in Kwangju, 170 miles south of Seoul, demanding constitutional change and direct election of the president.
In addition to the 36 Protestant clergymen, 126 Catholic priests were fasting today in five provincial cities in protest against Chun's decision to end negotiations with the opposition and keep the present constitution, church spokesmen said.
In a statement, the ministers called Washington an ''accomplice in the Kwangju Massacre'' of May 1980 and urged Reagan not to obstruct ''a march for democracy'' by the South Korean people by supporting Chun's government, a church spokesman in the city said.
''The Reagan administration must repent foreign policy mistakes (concerning South Korea) it has made so far,'' the statement said, according to the spokesman.
''It should not continue to support the Chun dictatorship and repeat the outrageous sin it committed in 1980 as an accomplice in the Kwangju Massacre. We solemnly warn the Reagan administration not to obstruct a march for democracy by our people.''
Nearly 200 people were killed in Kwangju in May 1980 in a nine-day revolt against a sweeping government crackdown on political dissent. The government deployed crack army troops to end the bloody insurrection.
In Seoul, police said 72 of 109 youths taken into custody while gathering for a violent anti-government demonstration in a southern sector of the city last Saturday will face criminal charges. The other 37, including 17 students and 20 workers, were freed today.
Police in Seoul were on alert today to put down disturbances that may be triggered by dissidents during a lantern parade this evening marking Buddha's birthday. Today is a national holiday also observed as Children's Day.
Chun announced April 13 he was ending efforts to revise the constitution through compromise with the opposition. He said he will hand over power in next February to a successor picked by an electoral college under the present constitution.
Chun said debate on the constitution may resume after the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, but protests have been rising from opposition politicians, church goers, literary circles, students and professors.
The 72 youths facing prosecution in Seoul on charges of illegally demonstrating were all students. They were taken into custody in the Kuro district of Seoul where police staged extensive street checks of youths based on a tipoff that a street riot was in the making.
Police seized nearly 400 firebombs and some 600 anti-government leaflets on the scene. They said they decided to make a high number of arrests because the youths had plotted an extremely violent street demonstration.
Document 778
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 30, 1986, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 285 words
HEADLINE: south korean student movement turns more anti-american
DATELINE: pyongyang, may 30; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
the recent "anti-government" student movement in south korea turning more and more anti-american has aroused great anxiety in u.s. institutions and among their personnel in seoul, according to reports from that city. on may 21, seventeen students in pusan, the second largest city in south korea, occupied for about an hour the american cultural center to demand a u.s. apology for the kwangju incident in may 1980, in which more than 5,000 people were reportedly killed and 10,000 others injured. on may 26, an american professor in seoul university received a telephone call demanding that he leave south korea within one week. on the same day, another american received a similar phone call at the school for foreigners where he was staying. a korean central news agency report said today that some 30 south korean workers forced their way into an american bank in seoul early this morning. the workers took over some office rooms on the third floor of the bank building and showed anti-american slogans over the windows of the office rooms. the frequent anti-american activities in south korea have caused panic in u.s. institutions and among americans there. the u.s. state department is reportedly planning to move the american embassy in downtown seoul, a frequent target of student protests, to a "more safe place." the south korean authorities have taken measures to protect the u.s. institutions and americans in seoul.observers said that the growing anti-americanism among south korean students resulted from the continuous presence of u.s. military troops, u.s. pressures to compel south korea to open its market, and the raping of a pregnant teacher by american soldiers not long ago.
Document 779
The Associated Press
May 21, 1986, Wednesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 634 words
HEADLINE: Students Seize U.S. Office in Pusan
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Students seized the U.S. Information Service building in the southern port city of Pusan today and caused extensive damage before they were overwhelmed by police, authorities said.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Seoul said about 21 students armed with pipes and other objects charged into the building, occupied all three floors and began smashing furniture and other facilities. Police took them away after about an hour.
The building also houses the U.S. consular office, and the vice consul and Information Service director have living quarters on the third floor.
Pusan, South Korea's second-largest city, is located about 250 miles south of Seoul.
About 20 American and Korea employees and Korean visitors to the first-floor library were not hurt, but the U.S. Embassy spokesman said that two South Korean policemen had received unspecified injuries. None of the students appeared to have been injured.
Police spread nets below upper-story windows in the event any of the demonstrators tried to jump from the building, but there was no report of such action. A student protester killed himself Tuesday by setting himself on fire and jumping from a window on a Seoul campus.
Protesters in Pusan today unfurled banners from windows denouncing the South Korean government and U.S. "imperialism,"and recalling the Kwangju uprising of May 1980.
The student-led revolt in the provincial capital of Kwangju six years ago was put down forcibly by the army. Officials say 191 people were killed during the nine-day uprising, but goverment opponents say the toll was much higher.
Many dissidents and other activists blame President Chun Doo-hwan for the incident, and critics have charged that the United States at least condoned the military action there. The Kwangju uprising has become a rallying point for opponents of Chun's government.
A police official in Pusan said the students threw two gasoline bombs at two policemen standing guard at the building when they charged in.
Then they took over all three floors, and four companies of riot police, about 600 men, were rushed in to surround the building and cordon off the area.
The U.S. Embassy spokesman in Seoul, David Fitzgerald, said in a statement: "Because of the violent nature of the student action, the U.S. Consul requested the Korean national police to enter and remove the students.""The students were removed from the building by Korean police without apparent injury to the students," he said.
"The embassy condemns the violent action of the students in this incident. We are grateful that the incident was resolved without loss of life or serious injury. We appreciate the rapid and cooperative assistance of the Korean national police throughout this incident and regret that two policemen were injured in the line of duty," he said.
The Yonhap News Agency reported from Pusan that the students had demanded a meeting with the American consul, C. Kenneth Quinones, but embassy officials in Seoul said they could not confirm that.
Other sources said it appeared the main aim of the students appeared to be to wreck the building.
Students have staged repeated demonstrations throughout the spring on campuses in Seoul and in provincial areas, and many recently have taken on more strident anti-American overtones.
The incident was the second in recent years at the U.S. facility in Pusan. In March, 1982, students protesting the alleged American role at Kwangju set a fire in the building's library. One library visitor, a South Korean student, died and three other people were injured.
The main U.S. Information Service library in Seoul was occupied for four days a year ago by a group of students also centering their protests on the Kwangju incident. They finally left on their own after lengthy negotiations.
Document 780
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 21, 1986, WEDNESDAY
LENGTH: 185 words
HEADLINE: south korean students occupy u.s. cultural center in pusan
DATELINE: pyongyang, may 21; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
seventeen students in pusan, the second largest city in south korea, today occupied for about an hour the american cultural center there to demand a u.s. apology for the kwangju incident, according to reports received here. they erected barriers in the library on the building's ground floor and held a sit-down protest, carrying placards inscribed with the words, "do not forget the kwangju struggle, overthrow pro-u.s. dictatorship." about 400 south korean policemen rushed to the scene and arrested all the students. it was south korean students' first attack against american institutions this year. several such actions were witnessed in seoul, kwangju, pusan and other south korean cities last year. in another development, several thousand students at the seoul national university today held a memorial meeting for those who died in the kwangju uprising, which took place on may 18, 1980. the students denounced and asked the united states to apologize for its support to the authorities in suppressing the uprising, in which more than 5,000 people were killed and some 10,000 others injured.
Document 781
The Associated Press
May 20, 1986, Tuesday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 472 words
HEADLINE: University Student sets Fire to Self and Jumps to Death
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
A university student set himself on fire and jumped four floors to his death Tuesday in protest against the presence of riot police on campus, news reports and witnesses said.
It was the third such incident at Seoul National University, South Korea's most prestigious college, since spring. One student burned himself in protest and died earlier this month, while another who tried to take his life last month was listed in serious condition at a local hospital.
Two riot policemen have also been killed in connection with anti-government demonstrations that have been held almost daily. Many of the protests have included anti-American rhetoric.
Last week, campus violence escalated in observance of the May 1980 Kwangju uprising that left at least 191 people dead by government count. Opposition leaders say the death toll was considerably higher.
Tuesday's self-immolation occurred in front of about 3,000 students who were listening to a leading dissident, the Rev. Moon Ik-hwan, deliver a speech on the Kwangju revolt.
Opposition groups have charged that the government of President Chun Doo-hwan, who came to power in the wake of the nine-day 1980 revolt, was withholding the truth of what happened at Kwangju.
After Moon began his speech, "Reflection on the Kwangju Struggle," about 1,000 riot police in battle-gear surrounded the students, the state-run Korean Broadcasting Station said. In South Korea, riot police can freely move onto campuses.
Six minutes later, Lee Tong-soo, 22, a freshman, doused himself with kerosene and paint thinner, set himself on fire and shouted "Out with U.S. imperialism and police!"He then hurled himself from the fourth-floor window of the student center building, the Yonhap news agency said.
Lee landed on the second-floor balcony but was dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, hospital and university officials said.
"The masses are foolish, but never die. Only history will judge my agonizing struggle," Lee wrote in his notebook, which was later found in his pocket, according to Yonhap news agency.
After watching Lee go up in flames, police fired scores of tear-gas canisters into the gathering crowd but fled campus after students hurled gasoline bombs and steel chairs at them, according to witnesses and the independently-owned newspaper, Chosun Ilbo.
News reports said police took Moon in for questioning on suspicion of delivering what they called an "agitative, anti-government speech." His whereabouts were not immediately known.
At least one other injury was reported when a tear-gas canister exploded in the hand of a 19-year-old student, student sources said.
At Sogang University, also in Seoul, hundreds of students staged a demonstration to protest the injury last Saturday of a student hit in the eye with a tear-gas canister, the sources said.
Document 782
The Associated Press
May 20, 1986, Tuesday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 477 words
HEADLINE: Student Sets Self Afire During Violent Demonstration
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
A student set himself on fire and then plunged to his death from a fourth-floor window during a violent anti-government demonstration today at Seoul National University, a news agency reported.
The demonstration broke out after riot police moved onto the campus to disperse about 3,000 students who were listening to a leading dissident speak at a school festival.
The Yonhap News Agency said the speech by the Rev. Moon Ik-hwan was interrupted when about 1,000 police surrounded the area and the fighting began.
Police fired tear gas and about 600 students hurled rocks and other objects, the news agency said. Other sources say the number of student demonstrators was higher.
Student sources said fighting spread over wide areas of the campus of the state-run university that is considered South Korea's most prestigious school.
Yonhap said that during the melee, Lee Tong-soo, a 22-year-old freshman in the school's horticulture department, shouted "out with U.S. imperialism and police" and dived from the fourth floor window of a school building after dousing himself with a flammable liquid and igniting it.
Officials said he was dead on arrival at a hospital.
Yonhap said a notebook was found in his pocket in which he had written, "the masses are foolish, but never die. Only history will judge my agonizing struggle."There were no immediate reports of other casualties.
Lee was the third Seoul National University student to set himself on fire in recent weeks. Two others set fire to themselves when police moved in to arrest them during a demonstration April 28. One died in a hospital, and the other is reported to be in serious condition still at a hospital.
South Korean schools this week are holding a series of campus festivals, and some of them reportedly are being linked with observances of the sixth anniversary of the Kwangju uprising.
The Rev. Moon, a well-known civil rights activist and head of the United Minjung (Masses) Movement For Democracy, was said to have been speaking on the topic "reflection on the Kwangju struggle" when his lecture was broken off because of the violent outburst.
Anti-government demonstrations have taken place almost every day throughout the spring on campuses in Seoul and provincial areas. Many of the protests have had anti-American overtones.
The number of such protests increased last week, and more observances of the Kwangju uprising were scheduled this week.
The student-led revolt in the provincial capital of Kwangju began May 18, 1980, and lasted nine days before it was put down by the military. It since has become a highly emotional issue among South Korean students and other opponents of the government of President Chun Doo-hwan.
Government authorities say 191 people died in the Kwangju uprising, but dissidents and human rights groups say the toll was much higher.
Document 783
Copyright 1986 U.P.I.
May 19, 1986, Monday, PM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 551 words
HEADLINE: Police hold 260 radicals
BYLINE: BY JAMES KIM
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Police today held 260 radical youths after a string of violent street demonstrations which marked the sixth anniversary of a bloody revolt that killed nearly 200 people.
''Most of them will be sent home during the day,'' a source close to police in Kwangju said. ''Only a handful of youths who played leading roles in the street actions will be placed under formal arrest.''
Kwangju, the capital of Cholla Namdoa province, 170 miles south of Seoul, was the scene of a nine-day insurrection which started on May 18, 1980, to protest a massive government crackdown on political opposition.
Official figures showed 191 people were killed in the Kwangju rioting, the worst in modern Korean history, but government critics said the figure was much higher.
Several hundred radical youths burned an effigy of President Chun Doo Hwan and clashed with riot police in the city Sunday following memorial services for the victims of the revolt.
A prosecution spokesman in Seoul, meanwhile, today said 149 people, including 99 students, will be indicted for participating in violent street riots May 3 in the port city of Inchon, 25 miles west of Seoul.
A prosecution spokesman said radical students and dissident youth organizations had meticulously planned the Inchon riots. Fifty-five people were being sought in addition to those under formal arrest, he said.
The Inchon rioting, the worst since the 1980 Kwangju uprising, escalated when thousands of radical youths, including students and workers, burned cars and set fire to a government party office.
In Kwangju, memorial services for the 1980 victims were interrupted Sunday by radical youths lambasting an opposition move to compromise with the ''dictatorial'' Chun government.
The youths took over the speaker's podium halfway through the memorial services to stage their own political rally. A youth leader, holding Chun responsible for what he called the Kwangju ''massacre,'' shouted, ''Let's execute Chun Doo Hwan. Let's put an end to U.S. and Japanese influences supporting Chun.''
South Korea has been racked by protests in recent months as opponents of Chun press for direct presidential elections. Chun, who is stepping down in 1988, has refused to consider changes in the system until after the 1988 Olympics, to be held in Seoul.
Chun, then an army general, played a key role in putting down the nine-day Kwangju riot.
The radicals Sunday interrupted a speech by a vice president of the major opposition New Korea Democratic Party, or NKDP, shouting, ''Go away NKDP. Don't collaborate with the military dictatorship. We oppose a conservative alliance.''
Bereaved families pleaded to continue the memorial services, but the radicals refused.
Youths began gathering at 2 p.m. near a plaza in front of a provincial government building where some 10,000 riot policemen and plain clothesmen were posted. Police blocked sidewalks leading to the plaza but kept automobile traffic moving.
Several hundred youths tried to push back police in repeated attempts to march toward the plaza. There were some 3,000 spectators lined up along the main street.
Police dispersed the youths with teargas at 4:50 p.m. They regrouped in back alleys, however, and continued battling authorities, until heavy rains at sunset ended the protests.
Document 784
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
MAY 19, 1986, MONDAY
LENGTH: 192 words
HEADLINE: south koreans mark kwangju massacre anniversary
DATELINE: pyongyang, may 19; ITEM NO: 0
BODY:
thousands of south koreans held anti-government demonstrations in the southwestern city of kwangju during the past few days to mark the sixth anniversary of the kwangju incident in which at least 200 people were killed and 800 others wounded. according to the korean central news agency (kcna), on may 16, more than 5,000 south korean demonstrators including young students held a memorial service for the dead in kwangju, 272 km south of seoul. they demanded the chun du hwan regime should "immediately stop its suppression of the human rights of members of the families of the dead and wounded in the gwangju massacre." witnesses said that police arrested nearly 30 demonstrators on that day, kcna reported. on may 18, the day when the massacre took place six years ago, more than 3,000 people took to the streets in demonstrations against the regime. they demanded the south korean rulers should "tell the truth about the kwangju massacre." police put the turnout at 10,000 on the main roads leading to the graveyard of those who were killed six years ago, kcna said. similar demonstrations were also held in seoul during the past few days.
Document 785
The Associated Press
May 18, 1986, Sunday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 681 words
HEADLINE: Police Disperse Demonstrators; More Than 80 Arrested
BYLINE: By EUGENE MOOSA, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Police fired tear gas at anti-government demonstrators trying to gather Sunday for a rally on the sixth anniversary of the Kwangju uprising, and a local news agency said some 120 people were arrested.
Earlier Sunday at a cemetery outside Kwangju, about 1,000 people attended a memorial service for victims of the rebellion.
Government officials have said 191 people were killed in May 1980 during nine days of fighting when troops entered this city to crush the revolt, but opposition leaders have said the death toll was much higher. Critics have claimed that President Chun Doo-hwan, a general who emerged as South Korea's strongman after the uprising, was responsible for the bloodshed.
In downtown Kwangju, police carrying shields threw tear gas cannisters whenever crowds began to form near the provincial government building, the scene of the major battle between the student-led rebels and government forces in 1980.
About 5,000 people remained in the nearby streets until an evening thunderstorm and police charges dispersed them.
Authorities refused to comment on the number of police in the city, but foreign journalists estimated there were about 10,000 riot police and hundreds of plainclothes officers.
Sunday afternoon, nine relatives of victims killed in the revolt threatened to stage a sit-in on the boulevard leading to the government building. They were arrested after an elderly man threw a rock through the window of a police bus.
One of those arrested was Park Bong-rim, 38. She said her son, Bang Kwang-bun, was 13 when he was shot and killed by soldiers while playing with friends at a reservoir outside the city.
"Give my son back," shouted Mrs. Park, wearing a white funeral robe, as she was taken away in the police bus.
About 70 other people were seen being taken away in police buses. Among them was the Rev. Sin Giak-sik of the local YMCA chapter. He had started a sit-down strike after police sealed off the YMCA and pushed away people trying to enter the building. Sin's followers, singing "Onward Christian Soldiers," were dispersed by tear gas.
The Yonhap news agency reported that at least 120 people were arrested in protests in this city of 1 million 200 miles south of the capital of Seoul.
The memorial service at the cemetery was disrupted briefly when members of radical student and workers groups grabbed the microphone away from a senior official of the moderate New Korea Democratic Party.
After shouting anti-government and anti-American slogans, the demonstrators burned an effigy of Chun bearing a sash inscribed "Killer Chun."Representatives of the Victims Families Association then took the microphone and called for restraint and reconciliation.
Recently, some militant organizations of students and workers have criticized the opposition New Korea Democratic Party, saying it has given in to the Chun government. The party has the support of the nation's two top dissidents, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung.
"I don't know the facts, but I feel that the NKDP used our cause for its own purposes," said Mrs. Park Bong-rim in an interview at the cemetery. "After the February (1985) elections, the party ignored us, especially about compensation."The New Korea Democratic Party holds more than 100 seats in the 276-member Assembly. In last year's election, 7 out of 10 people in Chollanamdo province, where Kwangju is located, voted for the opposition party.
In communist North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency reported more than 10,000 people attended a memorial service at a stadium in the capital city of Pyongyang for the victims of the Kwangju uprising.
The report, monitored in Tokyo, said Kim Bong Ju, chairman of North Korea's General Federation of Trade Unions, told the crowd that the United States had instigated the Kwangju "massacre."It said Kim reiterated North Korea's call for talks among North and South Korea and the United States to create the conditions for Korean reunification and the demand that South Korea, host to the 1988 summer Olympics, share the games with North Korea.
Document 786
The Associated Press
May 18, 1986, Sunday, BC cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 433 words
HEADLINE: Riot Police Disperse Anti-Government Protesters
BYLINE: By EUGENE MOOSA, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Riot police used tear gas Sunday to disperse about 2,000 anti-government protesters marking the sixth anniversary of the Kwangju uprising and dozens of people were seen taken away by police.
Services were held throughout the country to commemorate the May 1980 student-led rebellion in which at least 191 people were killed during nine days of violence between police and residents.
The uprising was put down by the military and government opponents say President Chun Doo-hwan, who at the time was emerging as South Korea's strongman, was responsible for the bloodshed.
In Kwangju, dozens of people were being taken away by police following skirmishes between riot police and protesters in front of the provincial capital building.
A tear gas canister hit the camera bag of an American television crew and exploded, but there were no reports of injuries.
The Yonhap news agency reported that a total of 120 people were arrested in protests in Kwangju, a city of 1 million about 200 miles south of the capital of Seoul.
Earlier Sunday, about 1,000 people attended a memorial service for the victims of the uprising at a cemetery outside Kwangju.
During the ceremony, members of the anti-government Kwangju Democratic League and the Catholic Workers Association interrupted speeches by relatives of the victims and officials of the major opposition party, the New Korea Democratic Party.
Jung Sun-cheol, head of the youth league, led the singing of a song about the uprising. "Whenever May 18 comes, red blood flows from our hearts," said the refrain.
After shouting anti-government and anti-U.S. slogans, the demonstrators burned an effigy of Chun bearing a sash inscribed "Killer Chun.""We should not end this only as a ceremony," said Kim Tea-hun, head of the May 18 Revolution-Injured People's Organization. "We should make this the starting point for a true democratic movement."Representatives of the Victims Families Association seized the microphone and called for restraint and reconciliation. The crowd dispersed peacefully and returned to the city, but radical student and workers groups called for nighttime demonstrations.
About 10,000 riot police were stationed in the city and along the road leading to the cemetery.
The 1980 uprising followed seven months of intense political activity sparked by the October 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee. The violence erupted after a May 17 order extending a martial law edict over the entire country. Authorities have said 191 people were killed, but government critics have said the number was much higher.
Document 787
Copyright 1986 U.P.I.
May 18, 1986, Sunday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 437 words
HEADLINE: Police battle protesters marking Kwangju uprising
BYLINE: By JAMES KIM
DATELINE: KWANGJU, South Korea
BODY:
Riot police fired tear gas and fought street battles with hundreds of anti-government protesters marking the sixth anniversary of an uprising that killed nearly 200 people.
Sporadic street demonstrations were reported as the nation's sixth largest city, 190 miles south of Seoul, where in 1980 government troops put down a nine-day revolt against martial law.
Witnesses said police arrested ''many'' demonstrators throughout the city, including about a dozen in one downtown protest.
Police fired about two dozen tear gas shells at about 300 leftists chanting ''Down with dictatorship'' as the protesters marched on a downtown government office building. Some of the leftists fought back by throwing rocks.
The youths, joined by some of the 3,000 onlookers, fought the riot police until dark in back streets.
The street fighting came after about 200 of the radicals, mostly students and workers, burned an effigy of President Chun Doo Hwan during memorial services honoring the victims of the revolt, the worst in modern Korean history.
The leftists at the memorial service also prevented Yang Soon-jik, one of the six vice presidents of the New Korea Democratic Party, or NKPD, the major opposition party, from speaking at the services, and scuffled briefly with party supporters. No one was injured.
''Go Away NKDP,'' the leftists chanted. ''Don't collaborate with the military dictatorship. We oppose a conservative alliance.''
The incident took place shortly after about 500 relatives of those killed in the uprising gathered with other mourners at the cemetery.
The graveyard holds the 191 people the government says were killed in the revolt. Opposition figures have placed the toll much higher.
The city of 700,000 erupted into an armed revolt on May 18, 1980, one day after the government expanded martial law to crack down on the opposition, including its best-known leader, Kim Dae-jung. Kwangju is the capital of Kim's home province.
Chun, then an army general, played a key role in crushing the riot. The U.S. military commander in South Korea authorized Korean paratroopers under his command to help quell the uprising.
The effigy of Chun burned at the memorial serivce was clad in a paratrooper's uniform and signs placed next to the effigy said, ''Chun Doo Hwan, the Murderer.''
The NKPD has mounted a petition campaign for a constitutional amendment that would allow for the direct election of the president. Chun will leave office in 1987.
However, radical leftists have called the effort a compromise with Chun's government, which they hold responsible for the Kwangju revolt.
Document 788
The Associated Press
May 17, 1986, Saturday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 633 words
HEADLINE: Police, Demonstrators Clash On Kwangju Anniversary
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Riot police fired tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters who gathered at two universities and on downtown streets on Saturday to mark the sixth anniversary of the Kwangju uprising.
At least 191 people were killed in Kwangju in May 1980 during nine days of violence between police and residents. The uprising was put down by the military, and government opponents say President Chun Doo-hwan, who at the time was emerging as South Korea's strongman, was responsible for the bloodshed.
In downtown Seoul, witnesses said 300 to 400 students scattered leaflets Saturday night in an area heavily reinforced by riot and plainclothes police officers. As soon as the students swarmed out of side streets into a broad thoroughfare, police fired tear gas to disperse them. Witnesses said some demonstrators were beaten by police and at least 12 young people were seen being taken away.
About 600 students squared off with riot police at Korea University, while several hundred demonstrators clashed with police at Yonsei University following Kwangju memorial services, said students who spoke on condition they not be identified. Police fired tear gas at demonstrators, some of whom hurled stones and gasoline bombs, the students said.
In Kwangju, 36 people were arrested Friday night after police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of about 5,000 who sought to march through the streets after a memorial service at a Roman Catholic Church.
Police on Saturday released 34 detainees, officials of the Kwangju Catholic Farmers Association told reporters. Police would not comment.
There were no reports of violence Saturday in Kwanju, a city of about 1 million people 200 miles south of the capital.
Loudspeakers blared anti-government slogans from the downtown Kwangju Catholic Center and members of the farmers association threw leaflets from the building into the streets.
Police quickly picked up the leaflets which demanded the release of the detainees, apologies from officials over recent acts of "suppression" and a full government review of the Kwanju uprising.
A large number of riot police cordoned off the area to pedestrians, but did not use force.
The New Korea Democratic Party, the dissident Council for the Promotion of Democracy and other government opponents issued statements, demanding democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners.
The statements said U.S. support of what opposition groups call South Korea's dictatorship will lead to more anti-American sentiments among South Koreans.
The council, which is headed by leading dissidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, termed the Kwangju uprising a "national tragedy in which popular aspirations for a peaceful transfer of power were crushed by the military."The uprising followed seven months of intense political activity sparked by the October 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee. The violence erupted after a May 17 order extending a martial law edict over the entire country. Authorities have said 191 people were killed, but government critics have said the number was much higher.
Opposition leaders and relatives of the victims of the uprising were expected to gather at a Kwangju cemetery Sunday for a memorial service and then attend a rally in Kwangju.
In the past week, scores of student demonstrations have been held on campuses across the country, where participants chanted anti-government and anti-U.S. slogans.
The United States has denied charges by government opponents that American officials condoned the use of South Korean forces to put down the Kwangju rebellion.
About 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Korea under a 1954 security agreement reached after the peninsula was divided into the Communist north and U.S.-allied south following the Korean War.
Document 789
The Associated Press
May 17, 1986, Saturday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 638 words
HEADLINE: Memorial Services, Clashes Mark Anniversary of Uprising
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Riot police today fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of students in downtown Seoul who were attempting to stage an anti-government protest marking the sixth anniversary of the Kwangju uprising.
Earlier in the day, students armed with gasoline bombs and rocks clashed with police at Seoul's Korea and Yonsei universities after services commemorating the 1980 uprising that left at least 191 people dead in Kwangju.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests stemming from today's university clashes, and no reports of violence at other memorial services held around the country.
Witnesses said 300 to 400 students scattered leaflets in downtown Seoul denouncing the government and the United States in an area that had been heavily reinforced throughout the day by riot and plainclothes police officers.
As soon as the students swarmed out of side streets into a broad thoroughfare, police fired tear gas to disperse them. Witnesses said some demonstrators were beaten by police and at least 12 young people were seen being taken away.
There had been rumors that students from several universities would attempt to gather with other dissident groups at Seoul's Pagoda Park for a demonstration. During the afternoon police blanketed that area, stopping students on the sidewalk, checking identification cards and searching bags.
At Korea University, about 600 students squared off with riot police, while several hundred were involved in the Yonsei incident, said students who spoke on condition they not be identified. Police fired tear gas at demonstrators, some of whom hurled stones and gasoline bombs, the students said.
Korea University students burned effigies of South Korean and U.S. officials they charged had a role in suppressing the May 1980 uprising in Kwangju, a provincial capital about 200 miles south of Seoul.
In Kwangju late Friday, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that at one point reportedly numbered around 5,000 and sought to march through the streets after a memorial service at a Roman Catholic Church, sources said.
The major opposition New Korea Democratic Party, the dissident Council for the Promotion of Democracy and others opposed to the government of President Chun Doo-hwan issued statements today demanding democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners.
The statements also warned the United States against support of what opposition groups call South Korea's dictatorship.
The council, which is headed by leading dissidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, termed the Kwangju uprising a "national tragedy in which popular aspirations for a peaceful transfer of power were crushed by the military."It also said continued U.S. support for the Chun government would bring more anti-American sentiment among the Korean people.
The Kwangju rebellion climaxed demonstrations and protests that spread across South Korea in May 1980 during a brief period of political freedom and activity following the October 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee. The uprising was sparked by an May 17 order extending a martial law edict over the entire country.
Violent demonstrations went on for nine days before being quashed by troops who waged a bloody firefight with holdouts who had taken over the provincial capital building.
Government authorities say 191 people died in the violence, but dissidents and human rights activists claim the toll was much higher.
The United States has denied criticism by opponents of the Chun government who say American officials at least passively condoned the use of South Korean forces to put down the rebellion.
About 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Korea under a 1954 security agreement made after the peninsula was divided into the Communist north and U.S.-allied south following the Korean War.