New S. Korea Party Tells Chun: Make Reforms or Face Protests
A major new opposition party was formed today, and its leaders warned President Chun Doo Hwan to accept political reforms or face nationwide resistance.
Thousands of riot police were deployed around the city to prevent protests.
Kim Young Sam, who was named president of the Reunification Democratic Party, said the party will be a strong, united opposition that will fight to restore democracy and end the rule of military-backed governments that have dominated South Korea since 1961.
“Our people are languishing under a brutal dictatorial rule without precedent in our history,” Kim told 300 cheering supporters packed into a small hall as hundreds more listened in other rooms or stood outside.
Kim urged the government to agree to immediate talks on changing the political system to ensure democracy and save the country from a major confrontation. The Korean people, he said, would accept nothing less.
Kim said democracy must be established if the 1988 Seoul Olympics are to be anything more than a tool to boost the government’s image in the same way Adolf Hitler sought to use the 1936 Games as a monument to Nazi Germany.
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