S. Koreans Throw Chun a Life Preserver

Thursday’s evening edition of the Joong-Ang Daily News carried a front-page cartoon that adroitly sums up the political scene here: A drowning bald-headed man reaches desperately for a life preserver bearing the results of a public opinion poll.

The bald-headed character represents Chun Doo Hwan, the beleaguered ex-president who made an emotional appeal to the South Korean people Wednesday, begging forgiveness for abuses during his seven years of authoritarian rule.

Good News for Chun

The pie-chart data on the life preserver suggested good news for Chun, who has withdrawn in disgrace to a heavily guarded Buddhist sanctuary in the mountains east of Seoul. As many as 47% of the people surveyed by the newspaper favored an anticipated presidential pardon; another 31.5% objected to a pardon; the rest were undecided or did not answer.

But an article explaining Wednesday’s telephone survey of 643 citizens said that even among those who would have Chun granted clemency, nearly 7 out of 10 wanted to see the National Assembly continue its investigation of his alleged misdeeds.

Although the reliability of such unscientific findings might be questioned, the graphic presentation of the survey illustrated the vital role of public opinion in South Korea’s fledgling democracy.

Chun’s statement of remorse came after condemnation of his behavior in office reached a fever pitch. And it is generally presumed that President Roh Tae Woo has waited to get a reading on the public’s feelings about Chun before deciding how to resolve the lingering turmoil over his administration’s ties to the Chun regime.

Roh reportedly will issue a statement Saturday on granting clemency to Chun. He is also expected to assuage the residue of public anger by outlining plans to reshuffle the ruling party leadership and making new democratic concessions.

The Dong-A Ilbo, the country’s most prestigious newspaper, conducted its own survey of 1,600 people nationwide and found that 49.2% deemed Chun’s apology “unacceptable,” as opposed to 44% who were satisfied by it.

At the same time, however, the paper said while only 5% of respondents were agreeable to political clemency for Chun on Oct. 2--the day the Seoul Olympics ended--nearly one-third of the people contacted Wednesday thought the case should now be closed with a pardon. Those favoring prosecution declined slightly to 27.7% in the same period.

In an editorial, the Dong-A Ilbo said a pardon for Chun would be acceptable only if Roh pledged full democratic reform. It also said Chun should be forced to testify before the National Assembly “to leave a record for history.”

Chun has been subpoenaed to appear before a panel investigating his role in the bloody military suppression of the 1980 Kwangju uprising. But it was not clear whether the opposition-dominated Assembly would cite him for contempt if he fails to appear, or whether Roh would attempt to screen his former mentor from additional public humiliation.

Schoenberger, who is based in Tokyo, is on assignment in South Korea.