Rally to Test Restraint in South Korea : Kwangju Site of 1980 Uprising; Crackdown on Activists Continues

The government of President Chun Doo Hwan has recently shown a measure of tolerance for demonstrations calling for direct election of the president, but the mass rally scheduled Sunday in the southwestern city of Kwangju--scene of a bloody 1980 uprising--will test the restraint of both the government and the political opposition.

Adding to the tensions will be clear signs of a continuing government crackdown on labor unions, student activists and church dissidents.

Last Sunday, the government permitted a big rally in Pusan, the country’s second-largest city, one of a series planned by the opposition to build support for a campaign to gather 10 million signatures on petitions calling for changing the constitution to permit direct presidential elections. The opposition contends that having the president elected by an electoral college favors the ruling party.

Police in Pusan used kid gloves in dealing with about 20,000 demonstrators shouting anti-government slogans. No one was hurt, even though a group of students tried to ram through police lines.

Praised by Washington

The government’s handling of the Pusan rally drew praise from Washington. White House spokesman Larry Speakes told reporters, “We are glad the government of Korea has allowed the meetings to take place.”

State Department spokesman Charles Redman expressed pleasure that the Seoul government had “allowed a peaceful meeting by the opposition to take place and it was not used as a pretext to provoke violence.”

But things may not go as smoothly in Kwangju, a southwestern provincial capital 170 miles from Seoul. In 1980, months of confusion in the wake of the assassination of President Park Chung Hee, and Chun’s consolidation of power in the military where he was then an officer, were capped in mid-May by news of the mass arrest of opposition politicians, including Kim Dae Jung, a native of the Kwangju region.

The people of Kwangju rose up in a 10-day rebellion, and nearly 200 were killed when troops moved in to quell the uprising. Bitterness lingered long after the dead were buried.

Sources close to the organizers said this week that they expect no serious incidents in the Kwangju rally.

Kim Kept From Rally

Kim Dae Jung, who was not allowed to attend last weekend’s Pusan rally, said he does not expect the police to let him address his supporters in Kwangju on Sunday. Kim was convicted of sedition in connection with the 1980 events and the Kwangju uprising. His death sentence was commuted, but his civil rights remain suspended by the Chun government, and he has been under intermittent house arrest in Seoul.

Kim Young Sam, another opposition leader, who is also technically barred from political activities, is scheduled to speak in Kwangju.

The two Kims are co-founders of the Council for the Promotion of Democracy, which along with the opposition New Korea Democratic Party, and Christian, human rights and opposition political groups are pressing for direct presidential elections.

Stability Stressed

The Chun government rejects the demand for changing the constitution now, but says the change could be considered after South Korea has been host to the Summer Olympics in 1988. Chun has said he will step down after his seven-year term ends in 1988. Government officials warn of possible attempts by North Korea to disrupt the Olympics, or the Asian Games to be held here this year. They stress the need for stability and call for a moratorium on political debate until after 1988.

The government at first took a hard line against the signature-gathering campaign. But after a Feb. 24 lunch with opposition leaders, Chun softened his position. Police lines that had kept opposition politicians from entering their own party headquarters, were removed, and the campaign to collect 10 million signatures by this summer was allowed to proceed.

Meanwhile, the crackdown continues against students, laborers and church workers, some of whom were arrested for demonstrating against earlier government attempts to suppress the movement to revise the constitution.

This month, the number of students indicted in connection with a Feb. 4 demonstration demanding constitutional reform swelled to 74. About 200 of 1,000 demonstrators have been taken into custody.

10 Activists Sentenced

Ten members of a campus activist group have been sentenced to up to seven years in prison for belonging to an organization described by a judge as “denying the free democratic system.”

Authorities also added the names of 12 more students to a wanted list. Police are now looking for 63 students suspected of distributing anti-government leaflets, organizing campus rallies and printing blacklisted books.

And police this month raided bookstores near universities, seized 1,200 books and took nine booksellers into custody. The crackdown marked a reversal of a policy under which literature describing the Chinese and Russian revolutions had been permitted to circulate freely in this staunchly anti-Communist country.

According to a dissident group that monitors labor problems, 199 people, including workers, students and clergymen, have been taken into custody in the Seoul area this month.

85 Reported Held

The figures could not be confirmed independently, but reports published in the press said 85 workers were taken into custody in connection with five worker demonstrations in March. The demonstrators demanded an increase in wages, which can be as low as $3.20 a day, and permission to organize unions.