A PUSH FOR PEACE IN KOREA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T02051R000200350042-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: October 21, 1988
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Approved For Release 2011/08/12 : CIA-RDP05TO2051 R000200350042-5
`A I '11 h tnr Na *% " - L^ - ` moo
Another piece of cold war orthodoxy yielded
Tuesday when President Roh Tae Woo of South
1orea took the podium at the, United Nations. It
marked the first -time that the leader of' South
Korea, the only country the U,N. ever went to war to
protect, has ever addressed that body. And Mr. Roh
used the occasion to launch a courageous and crea-
tive diplir...dtic proposal to bring peace to his penin-
sula, an effort worthy of the strides he has made to-
Ward democracy at home.
North and South Korea, each without a U.N..
seat and with armies among,th; wo ill largest,
glare across the line that has diVide~;:them
1950. Nowhere except ih Germany1~o East and, est'
face each other so directly and dangerously. Mr.
Roh now wants to talk peace with his neighbor and
asks the help of the great powers.
His strides toward democracy were anything
but assured when he took office last February after
his nation's- first free elections in almost 20
ear
y
s.
A military man, he'd been responsible for many
a
t'
of his
p
r
s f
economic giant that was still a political midget?
He answered by leading his country in success-
fully hosting the 1988 Olympics and by making un-
mistakable progress toward democracy and human
rights. Thus bolstered, Mr. Role came to the U.N. to
plead his case for a conference among the two,
Koreas and the powers that back them: the U.S. and
Japan, the Soviet Union and China.
There have been almost as many false starts at
thigissue.as ~besis bitter accu-
sations, shootings and. assa$ssimctioils' thr+ougi tt
the tenuous tt uce Nord K Formgn Minister
.?N Jl - a Brittle if
Still, there Is rnevement. Mosco, and B
i
i
e
j
ng
have been pressing PyongyanR's.fanatic leadership
toward reason. And Seoul, noW 'Western economic 1 41
eminence, is ruching out to **Communist world,
At home, Mr. Rob has held himself open to learning
from those wh'p pressed'for political freedom, and
Korea has benefited; Now he calls on friend and ad-
alike less savor y aspects, too. How would he handle this endea ors he desewmeseard?for peace. In both
Approved For Release 2011/08/12 : CIA-RDP05TO2051 R000200350042-5