S. Korea President Calls for New Era of Dialogue

The nation’s first opposition-dominated National Assembly convened Monday with a plea from President Roh Tae Woo to end the era of political conflict and begin a new era of dialogue and compromise.

But Roh, a former general, also issued a stern warning to anti-government forces that violent protests will not be tolerated by his government.

As he spoke, violence erupted a few miles away as thousands of students marched through downtown Seoul during a funeral procession for a dissident student who committed suicide.

Police fired tear gas to break up the protest after the hearse bearing the body of Choi Duk Soo left Seoul’s main rail station for the southern city of Kwangju.

Choi, the second student to kill himself this month in a political protest, died Thursday after setting himself on fire in an anti-government rally May 18.

Meanwhile, in the second labor problem to hit the giant Hyundai Group in a week, about 20,000 Hyundai Motor Co. workers kept the assembly line in Ulsan closed after walking off the job in a salary dispute. The employees of the nation’s largest auto maker want a wage increase of $184 a month.

At a subsidiary, Hyundai Precision and Industry Co. in Changwon, an earlier labor dispute entered its fourth day. Company officials said 10 executives, including the chairman and president, had been prevented from leaving the plant and were virtual hostages.

A union leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said by telephone that the executives “remain here of their own will to solve the dispute.” Repeated attempts to reach the executives by phone were unsuccessful.

The union is demanding a 40% wage increase.

The South Korean political landscape was transformed recently when the three main opposition parties won enough seats to dominate the assembly.

In his speech, Roh said the new opposition-dominated body must learn the art of political compromise to “crystallize the popular will.”

“Gone are the days when . . . the ruling party could get away with arbitrarily running the legislature and forcing anything through it and when blind opposition and struggle by the minority party could be justified,” he said.

Fist fights, scuffles and other confrontations frequently broke out in the past when the ruling party rammed legislation through the chamber.