Park stamps out spark of dissent

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34130, 17 April 1976, Page 15

Park stamps out spark of dissent

ian McKenzie, of n.z.p.a.Reuter, looks at political life in South Korea, which the New Zealand Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) will visit soon. (N.Z P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) SEOUL. April 16. ’ Spring is the usual season for political discontent in South Korea, but the Government appears to have effectively smothered the only serious spark of opposition to emerge so far this year.

President Park Chung Hee’s Administration quickly clamped down on dissident activity after a surprise Opposition statement was read out in Seoul’s Roman Catholic Myong-Dong Cathedral on March 11.

As a result, 10 people, including the country’s best known dissidents, are awaiting trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the Government If found guilty, they will face prison sentences of between one a d 15 vears.

There were a few sporadic attempts to pass out antiGovernment leaflets and demonstrate against the Government’s action, but the Administration was quickly on top of the situation, and headed off any real internal reaction to the charges. The brunt of the reaction, in fact, has been felt abroad, particularly in the United States. Diplomatic sources in

Seoul fear that the Government’s harsh attitude to- ’ wards the dissidents will mar South Korea’s -elationship with Washington. Ex-candidate Springtime is also the sea- ! son for agitation on the unii versity campuses, and the [Government does not underI rate student power which [toppled the Government of the late President Syngman Rhee in 1960.

But most political observers expect little if any opposition activity on the campuses this year. students being reluctant to jeopardise their already tenuous university positions at the start of the new academic year.

Of those charged with attempting to overthrow the Government. seven are awaiting trial in prison. A former Opposition Presidential candidate, Mr Kim Dae

Jung, who narrowly lost to President Park in the 1971 election, and Six Christian priests, ministers, and former theology 7 professors. The others charged, but not under arrest, include a former President, Mr Yun Po Sun, who was Head of State from August, 1960, to March, 1962. Mr Chyung Yil Hyung, Foreign Minister in [ 1960-61. and Mr Chyung’s] wife, better known as Dr Lee Tae Yung, a leading lawyer and women’s rights activist. Dr Lee was awarded the ■Magsaysay Award in the Philippines last year for her work on behalf of women. Grip tighter Mr Yun, aged 78, retired from active politics after he failed to unseat President Park in the 1967 Presidential ! elections. However, he has | lent his name to a number i of anti-Government campaigns, and was given a suspended three-year sentence in October, 1974, for his involvement in student opposition activities.

Mr Kim Dae Jung was sentenced last December to one year in gaol for election campaign irregularities, but he had been free pending his appeal until he was arrested on March 10 for his part in the Wyong-Dong incident.

Informed sources say that South Korean dissidents had become seriously concerned

last year over the way in which the Government was steadily tightening its grip on political life in the country. The Government has an extensive network of agents, including the Korean Central Intelligence Agency and the Counter-Intelligence Command, which keep a careful I watch on dissident activities. ; Agents have also' 'infiltrated the Opposition] ranks, informed sources be-! lieve. linage in U.S. ; The strategy of the. Gov-; emment during a 10-month; lull in dissident activity] leading up to March 1 had' been to head off any potential problems before they had a chance to get out of hand. Recognising this, political dissidents came to the conclusion late last year that 1976 was likely to prove a make-or-break year. The ' feeling grew that some dramatic action was needed to gain attention, both at home and abroad.

The Myong-Dong Cath- [ edra) incident has certainly i caused the Government ; problems with its image in ■ the United States, but the [domestic effect has been (minimal.

The statement read out unexpectedly at the cathedral on the 57th anniversary of a resistance move-

ment against Japanese occupation vzas described as a “declaration of democracy and national salvation.” The statement demanded a return to democratic rule, with freedom of the press, assembly, and publication and the right to express views in opposition to the government. Through its policies, the! Park Government had lost] the trust of its Western) allies, and it “must not) overlook its own mistake of) not accurately assessing the! international trend,” it said. ■ Plan ignored The political opposition in i South Korea faces major problems in organising and expressing itself within the tight framework laid down by presidential emergency decrees. But the main Opposition New Democratic Party, under its leader Mr Kim Young-Sam. is also frequently criticised for failing to formulate a comprehensive set of policies with which to oppose the Government. The N.D.P. has 57 seats in the 219-seat unicameral National Assembly. The tiny Democratic Unification Party has only three seats, while the remainder are held by the ruling Democratic Republican Party. One-third of the total seats are filled by Government appointees.

The New Democratic Party is split within itself, largely through differences over how to oppose the Government rather than through inherent tendencies to divide into factions. One factor that Government and most Opposition members agree on is that the Park Administration is doing a capable job of handling the economy: the Economic Planning Board is looking forward to a preliminary real growth target of nine per cent annually in the five-year plan starting next year. But on the political level Mr Kim Dae Jung has called for more political freedom, and proposed that the Government and Opposition should get together to chart the future political course for the country, a suggestion the Government has — at least outwardly — ignored.

Giving it atvay Mr Douglas McMinn, aged, 67, who turned a street-, barrow trade into a £l.7m! hardware empire, has continued his policy of giving money away by handing, £lOO.OOO to a day centre for? old people. “I started out, with nothing, and I’ll finish with nothing,” said Mr McMinn, who divided Elm between 205 employees when he sold his business two years •ago.—London. 1