U.S. Backs Democratic Reforms but Can’t Force Them on South Korea, American Official Says

Although the United States believes that South Korea’s political system “doesn’t seem to be working,” American diplomats “cannot play a brokerage role” in pursuing reform, an American official said Thursday.

“Legitimacy, effectiveness and fairness” in government are the key issues between the ruling party and the opposition, the official, who insisted that he not be further identified, said in an interview.

The United States, he said, must limit itself to saying that “we support any move you make toward greater democracy.”

“I don’t think we can play a brokerage role,” he said. “We cannot specify the form their government will take.”

Chun’s Term Ends in 1988

President Chun Doo Hwan is scheduled to step down on Feb. 24, 1988, with the expiration of a seven-year term provided for under his 1980 constitution.

The United States, the official continued, will speak out in support of Koreans seeking reform “through conciliation and compromise, rather than confrontation . . . within the institutional framework, not in the streets.”

The official spoke at a time of growing confrontation between the opposition, which insists on a direct presidential election, and the government, which insists on a parliamentary system headed by a prime minister elected indirectly by the National Assembly. Chances for compromise are generally considered slight.

The United States has recently adopted an aggressive position in favor of democratic reform in South Korea. This was made clear by Gaston Sigur, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, who delivered a major speech last Friday in New York, and by the new U.S. ambassador here, James Lilley, who has made two speeches in the past three weeks.

U.S. Envoy Meets Critic

Lilley, who took up his post in November, has already met with Kim Young Sam, an outspoken critic of Chun’s military-backed regime, and it was learned that he plans “in principle” to meet with Kim Dae Jung, another critic. The two Kims are the driving force behind the opposition New Korea Democratic Party.

Kim Dae Jung, who is free after suspension of a 20-year prison sentence for sedition, is condemned by government officials as a rabble-rouser. Any Lilley meeting with him would be certain to upset the government.

Lilley’s predecessor, Richard L. Walker, in more than five years here met privately with Kim Young Sam only once, and never with Kim Dae Jung.

A Western diplomat expressed pessimism Thursday about the ability of the United States to help bring full democracy to South Korea in the time that remains before Chun’s scheduled departure.

“March, April and May are the critical months to hammer something out,” he said, asking not to be further identified.

Some Progress Possible

He said he was not pessimistic about the prospects for some kind of progress, adding that an improved and more powerful National Assembly and a ban on police torture are strong possibilities.

Still, the diplomat said, whoever replaces Chun will be a member of the present ruling group. Chun’s forces “are not going to give up power” no matter what political system is adopted, he said.

Korea has not reached a consensus that would allow the sort of elections that would result in a change of power, he said, nor will there be an altogether legitimate new government.

The U.S. government, he said, advocates that South Korea establish a system that will produce a government that is acceptable to the people, but he added that the chances of getting that “are not too hot.”

Fair Election Unlikely

Also remote, the diplomat said, are the chances for a fair election and relaxation of restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly set out in a national security law designed to ensure security against a threat from Communist North Korea.

As a result, the new government may enjoy greater legitimacy than Chun’s but still “fall short of final legitimacy,” he said.

The diplomat said that “people are going to raise hell” over this, as they have throughout Chun’s term. Chun, an army general, took power by means of a military coup in May, 1980. Chun will retain a measure of influence after stepping down, if only to guarantee his personal safety against retribution from political enemies, the diplomat predicted. But he will not be able to pull the strings of a new government, even if he wants to do so, the diplomat added.

The Western diplomat noted that Sigur, the assistant secretary of state, had advocated that Korea “civilianize” its government, but added, “I don’t think (Americans) can impose that standard on the people here.”

Lists Dynamic Leaders

He said he thinks that among “the most dynamic and effective men in Korea” are Roh Tae Woo, chairman of the ruling Democratic Justice Party; Park Sae Jik, chairman of the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee, and Chung Ho Yong, the new minister of home affairs--all former generals who helped Chun seize power.

“They will have a place in the power structure,” he said. “The people want them to be there (because) they keep the military pacified” and because the military establishment trusts them.

He said there will be a shift in the balance of power, with the number of “ex-military men shrinking . . . a greater proportion from the civilian side . . . and an increasingly powerful role by technocrats.”

The United States, the diplomat said, must be careful to distinguish between what Americans think is appropriate in Korea and what will work in Korea.

Koreans Want Change

He said the average Korean wants “change on a broad scale, a more decent and respectable political system.” But he added that there is not much possibility of the average Korean getting caught up in street demonstrations of the sort seen last year in the Philippines.