S. Korean Ruling Party Merges With 2 Foes

President Roh Tae Woo on Monday announced the formation of a huge ruling party that political analysts say will virtually secure one-party rule in South Korea.

Roh, flanked by opposition leaders Kim Young Sam and Kim Jong Pil, told reporters that the ruling Democratic Justice Party has agreed to merge with two of the nation’s three opposition parties.

“The merger will be registered by the end of February, and the convention launching the new party will be staged by the end of May,” he said, reading a statement drawn up after nine hours of talks in the presidential mansion.

Kim Dae Jung, South Korea’s best-known political figure abroad, will now lead the only opposition party, the Party for Peace and Democracy. He said Monday that the new alliance breaks a promise that Roh made earlier this month when meeting with opposition leaders.

“President Roh, only 10 days after he insisted that there could not be an artificial political restructuring, is now ridiculing and betraying the people by resorting to dictatorial methods,” Kim said.

“We can’t expect political stability under circumstances in which a promise to the people . . . was ditched,” he added.

The new ruling party, tentatively called the Democratic Freedom Party, will be led jointly by Roh, Kim Young Sam and Kim Jong Pil until the convention. The Kims are not related.

It is believed to be the first time that South Korean opposition parties have united with a ruling party. The merger will give the new party well over the two-thirds majority in the National Assembly required for constitutional changes.

Former presidential candidate Kim Young Sam leads the Reunification Democratic Party, which holds 59 of 299 seats in the assembly. Former Prime Minister Kim Jong Pil heads the New Democratic Republican Party with 35 seats. Roh’s party has 125 seats.

Roh said the merger was needed to end concerns among the people about political instability caused by the current four-party system.

Political analysts said the merger was a coup for Roh, who suffered a major setback in April, 1988, elections when his party lost its overall Assembly majority.

Also on Monday, hundreds of students and workers were arrested when radical students battled police after rallying with workers who are trying to inaugurate a nationwide union that the government has outlawed. The clashes erupted on campuses in Seoul and three other cities, where students called for a joint effort with militant workers to overthrow Roh’s government.