Opposition in Seoul Disagrees Over Candidate

Liberal opposition forces moved toward a split Tuesday as Kim Young Sam urged his rival, Kim Dae Jung, not to run for president in order to forestall a possible military coup.

The advice was rejected. With only one day left in September, the two opposition leaders so far have failed to fulfill their Sept. 21 promise to decide by the end of the month which of them would be the candidate. No further meeting was scheduled.

Kim Young Sam, who is now president of the Reunification Democratic Party, and Kim Dae Jung, an adviser to the party, promised four years ago to put their differences aside and work together to replace military rule with democracy in South Korea.

Could Divide Vote

The new falling out raises the possibility that both may seek the presidency and divide the anti-government vote against Roh Tae Woo, President Chun Doo Hwan’s handpicked candidate to head the ruling, military-backed Democratic Justice Party.

Kim Young Sam said after the meeting that he had proposed that Kim Dae Jung “take the party president’s position and that I run for president” but that the idea was rejected.

In urging Kim Dae Jung not to run, Kim Young Sam cited publicly for the first time the military’s well-known antipathy toward his rival. He did it indirectly, saying that “it would be a smoother transition of power if I ran.”

Kim Dae Jung said he replied: “We are now trying to establish a democracy by putting an end to military dictatorship. It would be shameful to be afraid of the military at a time like this.”

Kim Dae Jung, the opposition candidate in the last direct presidential election, 16 years ago, said that Kim Young Sam had urged him not to run to avoid fanning “regional tension” between the underprivileged southwestern Cholla region, Kim Dae Jung’s birthplace, and the southeastern Kyongsang region, where most of the nation’s elite come from, among them Kim Young Sam and Roh, the ruling party candidate.

“If I run, it will be a fight between Taegu (in the Kyongsang region) and Kwangju (in the Cholla region),” Kim Dae Jung said he was told. He said he replied, “But what will be the feeling of the people in the Cholla region if they don’t have a candidate?”

Kim Dae Jung said Kim Young Sam told him bluntly that the middle class “disapproves of me” and added:

“He said forces that disapprove of me are as strong as those that support me . . . but I told him that disfavor by the military and the middle class and regional antagonism will be easily solved if he helps me.”

The rival leaders’ discussion of the factors that influence politics in South Korea underscored a widening rift that both acknowledged. For the first time, neither offered any assurance that one would withdraw from the competition.

An opposition split, with both Kims running, would greatly improve the ruling party’s chances of retaining power. Three months ago, Kim Dae Jung suggested in an interview that President Chun was restoring his civil rights in the hope of splitting the opposition. The government deprived him of his rights after he was convicted of sedition in 1980.

According to many political analysts here, if the liberal opposition puts up a single candidate it will stand its best chance ever to take power in this country, which has been run by former generals for all but 10 months of the past 26 years.

Kim Young Sam said he will continue trying to get agreement on a single candidate until Oct. 10, the date tentatively scheduled for the Reunification Democratic Party nominating convention.

“We cannot delay indefinitely putting up a candidate,” he said.

Kim Dae Jung said, “I feel depressed and sorry for the people,” adding that he will need “about a week to think things over.”

He said that if the party fails to nominate him, “a political process will be needed to pick a people’s candidate,” implying that he would run as an independent.

With “so many people supporting me, it would be an act of betrayal not to run,” he told a group of about 2,000 Protestants at an afternoon prayer meeting. The crowd resolved to support Kim Dae Jung, a Roman Catholic, for president and pledged to get 10 million signatures endorsing him.

Kim Young Sam said he told his rival that failure to field a single opposition candidate would amount to “committing an irretrievable sin against posterity” by thwarting the effort to end military rule.

Also, he said, it would split not only the Reunification Democratic Party but also the Council for the Promotion of Democracy and the National Coalition for a Democratic Constitution. Both are broad-based dissident organizations that were active in the street demonstrations that swept the country in June.

It was the June upheaval that forced Chun, a former general who seized power in a 1980 coup, to promise democratic rule, including a direct presidential election to choose his successor. The election is planned to be held by Dec. 20.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong Pil, who was prime minister under the late President Park Chung Hee, appeared at a rally of 40,000 people in his hometown of Puyo. He lashed out at Chun and his followers, saying:

“The current regime says it will pursue democracy, but it is only words. They are paranoid that once they lose power, they may be executed.”

A day earlier, Kim had announced that he was returning to politics after a seven-year hiatus and would form a new party by the end of October. The party is expected to nominate him as its candidate for president.

Kim Jong Pil said his new party will be conservative, but he advocated an opposition-like platform of greater benefits to farmers, fishermen and workers. He also called for the political neutrality of servicemen and civil servants.

Some analysts said that Kim Jong Pil’s candidacy, which is expected to cost Roh votes, may have encouraged Kim Dae Jung to believe that he has the best chance of winning a four-way race.