General becomes S. Korean president

Press, 28 August 1980, Page 6

General becomes S. Korean president

NZPA-Reuter Seoul General Chun Doo-Hwan was named President of South Korea yesterday, and a Government announcement said he would take up his new duties immediately. The Acting President (Mr Park Choong-Hoon) would act as Prime Minister until a new Cabinet was chosen.

General Chun, aged 49, will be inaugurated on Monday after his selection as President by a directly elected body set up by the late President Park ChungHee. The general was the only candidate. But it was expected that he would rule with an iron hand and ensure that the Army played a more open role in running the country. His priority will be to restore stability to the country since the turbulent period after the assassination of his mentor, President Park, last October.

General Chun is expected to pick a non-military, Cabinet, but informed sources said the real power probably would be wielded by him and Army colleagues in charge of security. General Chun rose ’to prominence as leader of a military group investigating the killing of Mr Park.

Since then he has become the power behind the presidential throne, and his appointment to - the top post was regarded as a mere formality this month when President Choi Kyu-Hah resigned and Mr Park ChoongHoon became Acting Head of State. General Chun resigned from the Army on Friday in what was seen as one of the final moves in a well orchestrated campaign to give him power. He envisages the building of a welfare state ,to divide more equally among' the country’s 37 million people the fruits of the economic success achieved under Mr Park. He has already acted against alleged corruption in high places and indirectly attacked Mr Park for holding onto power for too long, and thus stimulating corrupt practices. , Every South Korean newspaper — all under martial law censorship — ran a storv this month quoting a top United States official as saying Washington was willing to support General Criun if he became President. The general told a journalist that the official was General John Wickham, commander of United States Forces in Korea and of the United States-South Korea Combined Forces Command. The State Department said General Wickham was speaking as a private citizen.

General Chun is a member of an elite group of officers who graduated together in the. middle: 195Qs from the Korea Military Academy..