ROH FACING SKEPTICISM ON PROSPECT FOR CHANGE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T02051R000200350097-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 97
• Publication Date: February 28, 1988
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

-- Sanitized CoI
FIh.Si-IIN"'TON PAST J~,~
1~o~i~ Facing Skepticism
On Prospect for Change
South Korean Military Power Base Intact
By Fred Hiatt
WnAlntton Pat Ponl~n 9~rvla
SEOUL, Feb. 29-President Roh.
Tae Woo's sober inauguratlon cer-
emony this week was billed as
South Korea's first peaceful and
democratic transltlon of power.
Not quite, said one Korean jour-
nallat, as he watched students and:
police battle in the street. Helf~.
peaceful, he said, half democratlc-
and less than half of a transltlon.
The remark did not appear, to~
reflect the views of most Koreans,.
who appear to 'be willing to give;
Roh a chance, But It did reflect ani
almost universal uncertainty that a'
reformed plotter of military coups
can recast himself to lead South
Korea into a new age of democracy.
As Roh settled in for afive-year
term after winning the first free
election here In 18 years, many Ko-
reans were asklrig If he is sincere in
his campaign promise to remove all
vestiges of authoritarian rule and, if
so, whether the power structure
would allow him to do so,
"The president is a different man
now, but almost everything else
around him Is unchanged,' said Choi
h Jang 11p, a political science profes-
sor at Korea University. "His power
base of bureaucrats and military
elite and big industrlallsts-before
and after his inauguratlon, they are
the same. The attitude and culture
of political domination are not so
quick to change."
At least !n questions of style, Roh
set a new tone. At hla first Cabinet
meeting, he sat at the head of a
curved table with his ministers in-
stead of at the distant and separate
desk hla friend and predecessor,
Chun Doo Hwan, had favored.
Roh asked the ministers for their
opinions instead of just lecturing
them, his aides reported. He or-
dered that the avenue leading to the
presidential mansion, long a deso-
late reminder of Chun's preoccu-
pation with security and isolation,
should be opened to pedestrians
And he started a trend among Ko -
ROFI TAE W00
.. ,opening avenues to the populace
rean executives, who suddenly are
carrying their own briefcases.
"It's a breath of fresh air," one
Korean businessman said. But when
Roh announced just before the in-
auguration that his Cabinet would
include eight key holdovers from
the Chun regime, the nation's
newspapers-stirring after years of
censorship-said that sitting at
round tables would not be enough.
The Korea Times editorialized
that "more is needed than Just
words and gestures."
"The raison d'etre of the Roh
government is to satisfy the public
wish for a long-sought power
change, for which the nation under-
went unprecedented political tur-
molland legislative process," It said.
Indeed, many in the opposition
still seem dazed by the outcome of
that turmoil. After hundreds of
demonstrations, thousands of fire-
bombs, years In Jnll and exile, the
opposition earned the election it
fought for-but wound up on a fa-
miliar back bench at the inaugu-
ratlon.
The Initial response has been to
label Roh a more personable ver-
sion of his predecessor.
ROH, I~Yom A2ti
"It proves that in essence this
administration is no different from
the last one," the National Council
of Churches' human rights commit-
tee said today in~response to Roh's
partial amnesty for political prison-
ers, which left many dissidents in
jail.
The political opposition may be
recovering from the split that al-
lowed Roh to be elected with 36.6
percent of the vote. If it unites suf-
ficiently to win a msjority in April's
National Assembly elections, it
could pose the first serious teat of
Roh's willingness to live with de-
mocracy's frustrations and con-
straints.
Some analysts say that, ironic-
ally, if the opposition does not unite
it may pose an even greater test of
Rohs commitment to democracy.
Dl1'I'E ~~~ f~,
_ j-"---
the opposition in the election, I
don't think Roh can override the
hard-liners," said opposition activist
Lee Shin Bom. "They can say,
'Look, we have weak opposition, we
can manipulate. Don't tell us we
have to make changes.' "
The pessimists see intimations of
continued repression 1n Roh's Cab-
inet choices, his reappointment of
the director of the internal security
agency, his partial amnesty.
In his inaugural address, Roh
promised an end to "torture in se-
cret chambers," the pessimists say,
but how can the torturers be ex?
pected to reform themselves or re-
lease prisoners who can bear wit-
ness?
Roh also seems in no hurry to
fulfill his promise to allow electious
for governors, mayors and local of-
ficiala,,,pll of whore are currently
appointed by the ruling party.
"It's not going to move as fast as
the most ambitious people would -
like to think;' a western diplomat -
said. "This is still a very conserva-
tive administration."
The diplomat said that Roh's gov-
ernment may never investigate the
abuses and financial scandals of the
Chun administration-of which Roh
was a part. But the diplomat also
said that Koreans may not insist on
such a calling to account. "This is an
exercise in exorcising ghosts," he
said. Simply by permitting discus-
sion of past abuses, he added, "you
dissipate bad feelings."
And almost everyone agrees
there have been remarkable
changes already. Newspapers crit-
icize Roh, and new newspapers are
springing up; once taboo subjects
are openly debated; a university
president who defied government
demands for stiff punishments for
student demonstrators has been
named prime minister.
Many Koreans believe that as
Roh consolidates power, the hold-
overs will be disn-isacd and greater
change will gradually be visible.
"No matter what people say, the
debate is more open," said one long-
time government opponent. "People
have real hope that they can change
things."
Most of all, many Koreans be-
lieve that the process of democra-
tization, although slower than some
hoped, will be almost impossible to,
reverse. And through his campaign'
to portray himself as an "ordinary'.
man;' Roh has won a period of
grace to prove himself.
Taxi driver Lee Jae Wook, 40,,
after listening to Roh's inaugural,
address, Bald, "I Ilked it. An era of
ordinary people-that's the part I
liked."
Asked whether Roh will keep his
promises, the taxi driver said, "Ii
believe he will try."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/12 :CIA-RDP05T02051 8000200350097-5