S. Korea Charter Amendment Hits Snag

Disagreement over the timing of parliamentary elections forced a delay Friday in the first step toward approval of a constitutional amendment that would provide for a direct presidential election in December.

A special session of the National Assembly that had been called for the sole purpose of considering the amendment was adjourned after a five-minute opening ceremony.

Roh Tae Woo, president of the ruling Democratic Justice Party, and Kim Young Sam, president of the opposition Reunification Democratic Party, had agreed earlier this month on a Sept. 10 target date for bipartisan agreement on the amendment. Later, the special National Assembly session was scheduled for Friday.

Negotiators from the rival parties made a last-minute effort in the morning but failed to reach agreement. The key issue dividing them is whether elections for the National Assembly should be held while President Chun Doo Hwan is still in office, as advocated by the ruling party, or whether they should be scheduled for next April, six to eight weeks after Chun’s term expires, as favored by the opposition.

Chun is scheduled to leave office Feb. 25, after a mid-December presidential election to be conducted under the revised constitution. It would be the first free presidential election since 1971.

Some members of the Democratic Justice Party accused the opposition of using delaying tactics so that the amendment could not be submitted before Roh, who is also his party’s nominee for president, makes a visit to the United States. Roh is scheduled to leave Seoul on Sunday and is expected to meet with President Reagan and other U.S. officials in Washington.

National Assembly leaders are scheduled to discuss reconvening the body next week if progress is made on the question of a date for parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, radical students, who doubt that democracy can be achieved through negotiation and who question the sincerity of the military-backed government’s promises of democratic reform, took to the streets again Friday.

Students seeking to topple the Chun government demonstrated at 40 campuses across the country Friday, according to Yonhap, the South Korean news agency.

In the evening, opposition leader Kim Dae Jung delivered a speech in a small meeting hall in Seoul.

In his speech, Kim questioned the sincerity of the government’s promise of democratic reform, a promise it made in June in response to massive street protests.

Kim is scheduled to travel today to Taejon, a provincial capital and South Korea’s sixth-largest city, in a bid to maintain the political momentum built up by a three-day trip earlier this week.