Ruling Party Backs Korea Reforms : Chairman’s Bold Gamble Caught Leaders by Surprise

Members of the ruling Democratic Justice Party’s executive council knew something unusual was afoot Monday when Roh Tae Woo, the party chairman, appeared at party headquarters at 8:50 a.m.

For days, Roh, whose nomination on June 10 as the party’s candidate for president had set off the worst turmoil here in seven years, had stayed at home making telephone calls and keeping unannounced appointments.

Not a single member of the executive council knew why he had come to party headquarters, though they knew he intended eventually to propose a series of compromises. Also, many had heard that he might renounce his candidacy in an effort to restore a dialogue with the opposition.

But no one expected what actually happened.

‘Let Reporters Stay’

When the meeting began, at 9:08 a.m., the press was asked to leave the room. But Roh intervened: “I have an announcement to make. Let the reporters stay.”

The television cameramen promptly advised their offices, and the government-owned Korea Broadcasting System went on the air. Customarily, there is no television in South Korea between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

“My beloved countrymen,” Roh began, addressing himself more to the cameras than to the party leaders.

By the time he was finished, 17 minutes later, he had read off the most dramatic proposals for democracy South Korea has ever heard from a former general. Some of the hard-boiled members of the executive committee were wiping tears from their eyes. Others were red-faced.

Stunned Silence

A stunned silence and tense faces greeted Roh as he ticked off one proposal after another. He accepted, on the face of it, virtually every opposition demand, which President Chun Doo Hwan and the ruling party had rejected. He concluded by saying:

“With the sacred right to vote at hand, let us all work together to create a society where young people develop their capabilities to realize their ideals, where workers and farmers can work free of anxiety, where businessmen exert even greater creative efforts and where politicians exercise the art of debate and compromise to work out the nation’s future. . . .

“This country belongs to us. It is our historic duty to exert our efforts and exercise restraint and wisdom to more successfully develop the country that was nurtured with the blood of our forefathers and the lives of our patriots to proudly hand it over to the next generation.

“I sincerely hope that national wisdom will be pooled to demonstrate to the world that the Korean people will not go backward but will move forward to make a contribution to world history.”

The room exploded with applause.

Roh then shook hands with each of the 28 party leaders and apologized for not consulting them in advance.

“These proposals were not decided by all gathered together in a single place,” he said, “but I want you to know I made them from the bottom of my heart and with a love of country.”

‘You Have Done Well’

As he left the room, Korean reporters said to him, “You have done well.”

“I have stripped myself completely naked,” he replied, using a Korean expression for staking everything on one gamble.

Roh then visited the National Cemetery, where Koreans are buried who fell in the 1950-53 Korean War, in the many clashes that have since broken out along the border with North Korea, and, later, in the Vietnam War.

A man who until Monday had been condemned by the opposition as “the same wine with a new label,” just another former general wanting to rule a country that has not had a free and open presidential election since 1971, was suddenly the man of the hour.

He had promised a direct election to choose a successor to President Chun, his childhood friend and army comrade, the man he had helped raise to the presidency in 1980 with a military coup.

Party Gains Seen

Until Monday, nobody thought the ruling party had any chance of winning a direct election. Chun himself, according to a diplomatic source, had taken to telling foreign visitors: “I had to choose between being responsible or being popular. I chose to be responsible.”

By virtually all accounts, his government had become the most unpopular South Korea has ever had, and his associates--Roh included--had suffered.

Roh’s announcement was not a concession of defeat. It was a declaration of his intent to win. Korean and foreign analysts agree that the electoral process here is now a new ballgame.

“Since 1971,” a Korean analyst said, “the Korean people haven’t had a real presidential election. They want the opportunity to choose the leader themselves.”

Roh, who is soft-spoken, mild-mannered and lacking in charisma, has offered them just that, and suddenly he shapes up as a contender in an election he has promised to make fair and open.

Vote Seen This Year

The election is expected to take place shortly before the end of the year, after enactment of the reforms he proposed.

Still, a member of the South Korean Establishment said Monday, Roh’s election is not a certainty, even if all his promises are carried out.

“He’s making a big gamble,” this influential Korean said. “It was a very brave, heroic decision, because it means that Roh is prepared to lead an opposition party. Korea has never had such an experience.”

It was also a big gamble for President Chun, for whom an opposition leader in the presidential Blue House might mean prosecution on charges involving the deaths of 194 people. They were killed when army troops sent by Chun put down what amounted to a public insurrection in the provincial capital of Kwangju in 1980.

Although Chun has not put his official stamp of approval on Roh’s proposals, insiders say there are signs that the two close friends met several times in secret as the demonstrations swept the country. The demonstrations were in protest to Roh’s nomination in what was to be an indirect election, and even government officials admitted privately that it was rigged to guarantee a ruling party victory.

Direct, Open Election

Now, Roh has promised that the vote will be direct and open.

Insiders also say it promises to be a close race, with Roh, the certain ruling party candidate, facing either Kim Young Sam, president of the Reunification Democratic Party, or Kim Dae Jung, the opposition candidate in the 1971 election, a man said to be loathed by the military.

Roh announced that he would ask Chun to declare an amnesty that would restore Kim Dae Jung’s civil rights--he was convicted of sedition--and this was no less astonishing than his other proposals. The armed forces will have no choice, the Establishment source said, but to accept the entire package of proposals.

“There is no longer any pretext for them to intervene,” he said. “But suppose Kim Dae Jung should be elected? Then I don’t know what the army would do.”

Kim Dae Jung took a significant step toward avoiding a showdown with the military by reiterating a pledge he made last November to refrain from running if the election is by direct popular vote.

Both Kims May Run

Conceivably the two Kims, who quarreled after President Park Chung Hee was assassinated in 1979, will break up an alliance that they formed two years ago and both run.

“But Kim Dae Jung is a smart man,” the Establishment source said, “and my hunch is that he will make Kim Young Sam the candidate and hope to exercise control behind the scenes if Kim Young Sam wins.”

Minor opposition parties might also field candidates, but the real contest is expected to be between Roh and the two Kims. Should both Kims run, splitting the opposition vote, Roh would become the favorite, this source said.

“I don’t think they will blow this chance,” he said. “It may be the only one they have.”

The decisive factor that led to the turnabout was the unrest that erupted with Roh’s nomination. The demonstrations became even more significant when it became clear that support for the students was growing among average Koreans. People applauded the students. They sounded the horns on their autos and the bells in their churches.

U.S. Pressure Cited

U.S. pressure apparently played a role, too. Officials in Washington spoke out for the first time against the indirect election system by which Chun planned to put Roh in the Blue House. They declared repeatedly their opposition to the use of military troops to put down the turmoil. And they declared that change was needed in South Korea.

President Reagan sent Chun a letter. Ambassador James R. Lilley spent two hours talking with Chun when he delivered it. Edwin J. Derwinski, an undersecretary of state, used a scheduled visit to reiterate U.S. opposition to a military coup or the use of troops. Gaston J. Sigur, assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, made a special three-day visit, capping it off with a statement that he had advised President Chun that the United States considered unjustified “any use of military force” to quell the rising violence.

But even without the U.S. pressure, the hopelessness of bringing in troops to restore order for more than a short period became increasingly clear. On several occasions, in several cities, tens of thousands of riot police had lost control temporarily. It seemed clear that using troops could only buy time before the situation grew worse.

Olympics Were Imperiled

“It would have blown out the Olympics,” the Establishment man said, referring to the Summer Games scheduled for next year in Seoul. “He (Chun) couldn’t have done that.”

South Koreans have shown virtually universal enthusiasm for the Games, and their loss to some other country would would have gone down in history as a black mark against Chun. Roh said in his speech Monday that it would be “a national humiliation.”

As recently as last week, the Establishment source said, “Chun apparently didn’t realize how grave the situation was.”

Kim Young Sam, coming out of a meeting with Chun on Wednesday, said the same thing.

Kim said he told Chun the people wanted a direct presidential election, and the advice was echoed by elder statesmen, church leaders and businessmen Chun called in for consultation.

Exactly when the change of heart occurred is still not clear. But on Wednesday, Chun told Kim Young Sam that he had delegated to Roh all authority for making political decisions. Kim said he did not believe it and insisted that Chun himself continue to take part in further negotiations with the opposition.

Chun Remains Silent

But on Monday Chun remained silent, leaving the spotlight to Roh. Chun’s spokesman said only that the president would rule soon on the proposals.

The bottom line, according to the Establishment man, was the realization by Chun and Roh that the government was fighting a losing cause. The people refused to accept its proposal for a parliamentary system of government, with its indirect method of electing a prime minister in the National Assembly. And they were no longer willing to settle for promises of future reform.

“If Chun had continued without change,” he said, “the path would have led to defeat. Therefore, to do this, even if you lose, would not be a worse fate. In effect, it amounts to a declaration that ‘this is the only way we can survive.’ ”

With the divisive issue of authoritarian vs. democratic government eliminated, Roh will be able to wage a campaign based on accomplishments and experience in running a government.

‘One-Issue Politicians’

Both Kims carry solid credentials as “freedom fighters for democracy,” the Korean source said, but both are also one-issue politicians, and the public is skeptical about their ability to run a government in an increasingly pluralistic society.

For years, he went on, both have been out in the cold, in the opposition, and both are handicapped by a lack of skilled advisers; furthermore, the opposition has a poor image with the public because of continual factional fighting.

Roh’s statement Monday contained a hint of what might become his campaign slogan: “When you can have economic progress and democracy, too, why not Roh Tae Woo?”