KOREA'S CHUN LIKELY TO GIVE APOLOGY ON TV

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T02051R000200350093-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 93
• Publication Date: November 1, 1988
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

'~ Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/12 :CIA-RDP05T02051 8000200350093-9
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,~~Korea's Chun
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~:~'Likely to Give .
~~ ~~Apology on TV
.Public Admission of Abuses
During Rule Could Ease
Pressureon HisSuccessor
STAT
By SUSAN MOFFAT
SIaJJ RfpOfLQ~O(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SEOUL, South Korea-Former South
,Korean President Chun Doo Hwan is ex-
pected to apologize tomorrow in a televised
address for alleged~corruptfon and abuses
of power that occurred during his rule.
An apology may not satisfy the thou-
sands of protesters who have taken to the
streets recently in sometimes violent dem?
onstrations calling for the arrest and pros-
ecution of Mr. Chun. But it may give Presi-
dent Roh Tae Woo, who has said he doesn't
think legal action against his predecessor
is appropriate, a chance to convince aver
agg. South Koreans that they should let Mr.
Chun fade into quiet retirement.
Analysts say that what happens to Mr.
Chun is important because it may set a
precedent for the future of Korean politics. '
If he is allowed to live quietly in Korea, he
will be the first major postwar Korean
leader to step down in an orderly transition
of power and spend his retirement in his
own country. Syngman Rhee died in exile , .
in Hawaii after being toppled by a student ,
revolution, and Park Chung Hee was as- , ?
sassinated by the head of the Korean Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency.
' Tainted Legacy
- Mr. Chun is scheduled to appear on gov
ernment televisiorf tomorrow in a broad-
cast from his home. Both opposition and
ruling party politicians say they hope he
will apologize, promise to return wealth
that many Koreans believe he obtained
? through irregular means, and pledge to re?
fire to the countryside.
If Mr. Chun's apology for his alleged
misdeeds is seen as sincere, it may lessen
file tension that has been building since he
stepped down in February. Dealing with
Mr. Chun's legacy has been his successor's
biggest problem.
While Mr. Roh shares Mr. Chun's mili-
tary background and assisted in his seizure
of power in a 1979 coup, the new president
has been making largely successful ges-
tures to establish himself in Koreans'
minds as a democrat. Yet the taint of the
repressive Fifth Republic, as Mr. Chun's
rule is known here, continues to burden
both Mr. Roh and his Democratic Justice
Party, which was founded by Mr. Chun.
11lany people still joke bitterly that Mr.
Roh has brought not a Sixth Republic, but
- a "5.5 Republic."
K? Heightened Emotions ?~-?~z ~~' .; , ;;,
_ Althgugh pgrl;,ap~pn,~3sA3;~elrTiprQVem~~~
in Mr. Chun's case, matey Koreans despise
,him for his armed seizure of power. The ~
new administration hasn't made any
~~ moves toward prosecuting Mr. Chun, but
. the government has gone after his family.
>' Mr. Chun's younger brother is serving
' seven years for embezzlement and other
- crimes, and seven other relatives Including ,
his elder brother and his wife's brother
have been arrested on corruption charges. '.
? , Anti?Chun emotions have been heightened
I by the revelations !n those cases.
-.~ The opposition parties ob'Kim Dae Jung ?
, and Klm Young Sam have-been wavering
~ In their demands for prosecution, but they ?'
i appear to believe that a political solution-
: an apology, return of property and Mr.
' Chun leaving Seoul-is preferable to the
courts.
However, Kim Young Sam's Reunifica?
? lion Democratic Party has indicated it
may push for at least a judicial investiga-
;' lion, if no[ actual arrest and prosecution.
"To persuade the people. there must be
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/12 :CIA-RDP05T02051 8000200350093-9