Chun, Foes Strive for a Compromise : U.S. Tells Korean Military Not to Mix in Politics

In its strongest reaction so far to the current outbreak of political unrest in South Korea, the Reagan Administration on Monday warned that nation’s military commanders not to interfere with the political process now under way.

Any sort of military intervention in the still-tense situation there would be a “serious disservice” to South Korean interests, State Department spokeswomen Phyllis Oakley said at a briefing.

A State Department official said that the Administration is concerned about the possibility of military intervention because “the history of Korea is full of political unrest leading to military coups.”

The official, speaking on condition that his name not be made public, said that “we do not feel a coup is imminent” but that a public warning to South Korea’s military was deemed useful at this point.

‘Signs of Flexibility’

At her briefing, Oakley said that “recent signs of flexibility on the part of both the government and opposition lend hope that resolution (of the crisis) can occur via positive political actions, not negative military ones.

“We urge Korean military commanders to concentrate on the defense of Korea and allow the political process to develop in a manner agreeable to the Korean people,” she said.

Oakley also announced that Gaston J. Sigur, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, will meet with opposition leaders when he arrives in Seoul today for a 36-hour visit.

“He wishes to meet with our own (U.S.) ambassador and with a cross-section of Korean political leaders to assess the current situation there,” she said. “. . . He will underscore the U.S. view that dialogue and compromise provide the best means of ensuring Korea’s political development.”

President Chun Doo Hwan of South Korea is a former army general, and the State Department official who asked to remain anonymous said that, while most military officers are believed to be loyal to him, there undoubtedly has been criticism within the armed forces of his handling of the political opposition.

“It is also certain,” the official said, “that some of Chun’s colleagues believe that he caved in too quickly” in agreeing to meet with opposition leaders and indicating a willingness to rescind his earlier ban on talks about constitutional reform until after the scheduled 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul.

The military issue is a sensitive one for the United States, which ended economic aid to South Korea two decades ago but continues to provide military funding to the strategically important country, where 40,000 U.S. troops are based. The Reagan Administration has resisted any suggestion that it employ the threat of suspension of such aid or withdrawal of U.S. troops as a way to put pressure on Chun in the political debate.

“What (military aid) we are giving is for external defense, against North Korea, and we don’t want to jeopardize that,” the official said. However, he also discounted any possibility that Communist North Korea would capitalize on the turmoil in the south to launch an attack, as it did 37 years ago this month, starting the Korean War.

Another concern of Washington policy-makers is that chairman Kim Young Sam of the opposition Reunification Democratic Party and Kim Dae Jung, another major opposition leader, may seek to take advantage of President Chun’s indicated flexibility and try to hold out for too many concessions before entering into serious talks.

To try to thwart such a move, the official said, Assistant Secretary Sigur’s agenda was expanded to include meetings with opposition leaders.