S. Korean Ruling Party Disparages Opposition

President Chun Doo Hwan’s party said Thursday that it will not compromise with a new opposition group, which, it said, is led by “eternal criminals” who might make a deal with Communists.

“The unpredictable political situation is creating concern among our people that the proposed revision of the constitution through compromise may hit a snag and eventually invite catastrophe,” the Democratic Justice Party said in a statement.

South Korea’s major opposition New Korea Democratic Party fell apart Wednesday when Kim Young Sam and Kim Dae Jung, the country’s two best-known dissidents, left it to form a new movement intended to take a tougher line against the Chun government.

More than 70 of the New Korea Democratic Party’s 90 National Assembly members joined the defection, leaving the party no more than a splinter group. Chun’s party has 147 of the assembly’s 276 seats.

The two Kims said those joining the new party would be a “clear-cut, courageous” group fighting to change the constitution so presidents will be elected directly rather than by the current electoral-college system.

Supporters of the new group met Thursday and elected Kim Young Sam, 59, chairman of a committee that plans to bring the party into being by early May. He is expected to become party president.

The ruling party said the Kims are “eternal criminals” trying to ruin political development in South Korea.

It said the government would not swerve from support for a parliamentary system with a strong prime minister and figurehead president, which would replace the current strong presidency when Chun’s term ends next February.

Opposition leaders contend that a parliamentary system would perpetuate the incumbents in power.

Chun, a former army general, took charge after President Park Chung Hee was assassinated in 1979. His critics accuse him of running a military dictatorship.

In its statement Thursday, the government party said the Kims might try to foment a popular uprising against the Chun government with the help of “pro-Communist groups.”

It made a similar charge last year, when the New Korea Democratic Party was sponsoring rallies and demonstrations in support of its proposed constitutional reforms.