Kim Dae Jung Placed Under House Arrest--for the 28th Time

Authorities placed opposition leader Kim Dae Jung under house arrest Friday for the 28th time since he returned last year from two years of self-exile in the United States, his aides said.

Police sources said the action was to prevent Kim from attending an opposition-sponsored public hearing on proposed constitutional amendments.

The opposition has staged demonstrations, some of them violent, in support of changing the constitution to allow free elections.

About 500 riot and plainclothes police were posted around Kim’s house in an eastern part of Seoul at 6 a.m. Friday. All visitors were checked.

“Police cordoned off the area, blocking Mr. Kim from going out,” one of his aides said.

Second Time This Week

One police source said, “As before, Kim’s house arrest this time is temporary and the action will be lifted after the opposition hearing is over late Friday afternoon.”

On Wednesday, Kim was put under house arrest for more than 12 hours under a police move to prevent him from speaking to an opposition-organized political gathering in Seoul.

Police officials defended their action as “a protective measure” to safeguard the flamboyant opposition leader from violating the law by attending political gatherings.

Kim, 60, currently free on a stay of 20-year jail term for sedition, cannot engage in political activity under Korean law.

Presidential Candidate

A bitter critic of President Chun Doo Hwan, Kim was a leading presidential candidate in 1980 when martial law authorities stepped up a crackdown on political dissent following the assassination of President Park Chung Hee.

Kim drew the death penalty in a military court in 1980, but the sentence was subsequently reduced to life and a 20-year term.

Under a political compromise believed mediated by the Reagan Administration, Kim was freed from jail and allowed to go to the United States in late 1983 for medical care. He returned in February, 1985.