SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 456 words
HEADLINE: Ex-Presidents Go on Mutiny and Treason Trial Together
DATELINE: SEOUL, South Korea
BODY:
Former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, military friends who successively ruled South Korea from 1980 to 1993, go on trial together Monday in connection with their bloody seizure of power.
The two former generals are accused of masterminding the 1979 coup and a bloody military crackdown several months later that killed 240 pro-democracy protesters in the southern city of Kwangju.
Their trial on mutiny and treason charges is part of President Kim Young-sam's attempt to come to terms with South Korea's recent history of corruption, coups and harsh authoritarian rule.
If convicted, they face the death penalty, although execution is unlikely. They also face at least 10 years in prison on bribery charges.
On Sunday, hundreds of people began lining up in front of the Seoul District Criminal Court to get about 80 admission tickets allotted to the public. According to the court practice here, the trial is not televised.
Police also beefed up security around U.S. facilities to prevent violence by activists. Despite Washington's denial, dissidents have alleged that the U.S. government condoned the Kwangju blood bath.
Monday's court session is the first time that Chun and Roh, jailed late last year, are to appear at court together. They are already on trial on charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes from businessmen.
Also going on trial Monday are 14 former generals charged with involvement in the coup and the May 1980 "Kwangju Massacre".
News reports said another ex-president, Choi Kyu-hah, could join Chun and Roh in court as prosecutors planned to subpoena him to testify against his military successors.
Chun, president from 1980 to 1988, seized power after the assassination of his mentor, President Park Chung-hee, in late 1979. Roh, who allegedly played a key role in the coup, succeeded him as president from 1988 to 1993.
Prosecutors say Chun's seizure was a mutiny because his junta arrested the then-martial law commander at gunpoint and forced caretaker President Choi to approve the arrest.
Chun has denied the charges, saying that the military panel investigating Park's assassination found the martial law commander was involved in corruption and that Choi was not under duress when he approved the arrest.
Choi, who is 77 and ailing, has previously refused to testify, citing his presidential immunity. His testimony is consider crucial to incriminating Chun.
In the treason charges, Chun's military junta was accused of forcing the Cabinet to put the nation under martial law and dispatching tanks and crack troops to brutally suppress the Kwangju pro-democracy protests.
Chun has said the shootings occurred "accidentally" amid the chaos of violent demonstrations.