Seoul Offers to Compensate Victims of ’80 Crackdown

South Korea’s governing and opposition leaders proposed Saturday to compensate victims of a 1980 crackdown as part of an arrangement to settle corruption charges against the government of former President Chun Doo Hwan.

Under the agreement, Chun must testify about alleged corruption during his seven years of authoritarian rule. And two former army generals closely associated with him, Lee Hui Sung and Chung Ho Yong, will be barred from politics.

The accord also proposes the release of prisoners serving long terms for political crimes. Justice Ministry officials said that about 200 people are in prison after being convicted of spying for or helping Communist North Korea.

The agreement was reached after seven hours of talks between President Roh Tae Woo and three main opposition leaders--Kim Dae Jung, Kim Young Sam and Kim Jong Pil.

Officials said that under the agreement, the government will accelerate actions to “restore honor” for citizens of the southern city of Kwangju who were labeled as rebels by the Chun administration.

They said a bill will be introduced in the National Assembly to pay up to $500,000 in compensation for each person killed in the May, 1980, crackdown.

Chun, Chung and Lee were all army generals and have been accused of using the Kwangju uprising to seize power after the assassination of President Park Chung Hee in 1979.

According to official count, about 200 people were killed and more than 1,500 were injured when the military crushed the anti-government demonstrations.

Roh, another Chun associate, was elected to succeed Chun and took office in February, 1988. But opposition parties later won control of the National Assembly.

“I am glad that I have been able to reach satisfactory agreement on the clearing away of the past issues,” Roh told reporters after the talks.

The opposition leaders said they would not raise other issues related to the Chun administration once all details set by the agreement have been implemented.

No deadline was officially set for implementation of the pact, but presidential spokesman Lee Su Jung said, “All problems should be settled before the end of this year.”

Government officials said the “grand compromise” was possible on the 11-point agreement after Roh accepted the key opposition demands for Chun’s public testimony and action against Lee and Chung.