Death Sought for S. Korea’s Chun

As the unprecedented trial of two former South Korean strongmen drew to a close Monday, prosecutors demanded the death penalty for former President Chun Doo Hwan and life in prison for his successor, Roh Tae Woo.

The two men are charged with sedition and treason in connection with the 1979 mutiny that brought Chun to power and the massacre of hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators in the southwestern city of Kwangju in 1980.

“It is the duty of our generation to settle the legacies of a wrongful past,” the prosecution said in a statement that echoed President Kim Young Sam’s promise to “right the wrongs of history” by putting his two archenemies on trial.

Roh and Chun are also accused of accepting hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes from South Korea’s most powerful businesses--triggering an explosive investigation into entrenched corruption at the highest levels of society.

Neither of the retired generals has been found innocent or guilty; under South Korea’s legal system, however, the prosecutor seeks a sentence before the three-judge panel announces its verdict. Convictions in this case are seen as a preordained formality when the court reconvenes Aug. 19.

Although courtroom spectators in Seoul clapped and cheered when the prosecutor asked for the death penalty for Chun, an execution is considered unlikely.

Public opinion was divided Monday as to how severely South Korea’s former leaders should be punished. But political analysts and ordinary citizens agreed that Kim would probably find an opportune moment to commute any sentences of Chun and Roh and try to bind South Korea’s political wounds before next year’s presidential vote.

“I welcome the punishment,” said Kim Mi Kyong, 23, a trading company worker. “They should be executed . . . to prevent similar crimes in the future, but I am afraid that they will somehow be spared.”

Seoul traffic policeman Choi Byung Gi, 26, favors amnesty. “They should be pardoned, for they were, after all, chief executives of this country, and it is bad for Korea’s image if we execute former chief executives,” Choi said, adding: “Let history judge.”

Although the trials are aimed at purging South Korean politics of blood and bribery, many citizens view them as political theater. “It is certain that they will get pardons, so why all these shows?” asked Chung Ki Yong, 31, who works for the Samsung business group.

The subject of the trial, one of the darkest episodes in Korean history, began with a December 1979 army mutiny led by Chun and supported by his friend Roh. In May 1980, Chun declared martial law and troops moved into Kwangju to squash a protest movement, killing at least 240 people--and by some estimates up to 1,000.

On trial with the two former presidents are 14 other top military officers accused of helping Chun seize or consolidate power. Prosecutors asked for life sentences for Chung Ho Yong, who commanded the special troops that fired on the Kwangju protesters, and for Hwang Young Si, deputy commander.

South Korea is struggling toward democracy after decades of rule by authoritarian juntas and military-backed leaders. Chun was president from 1980 to 1988; Roh led from 1988 to 1993. When Kim Young Sam was elected in 1993, he became the country’s first civilian leader in 32 years. A former democracy activist, Kim at first declined to take on his old foes and refused pleas for a full investigation of the Kwangju incident. Last year, he reversed himself and initiated a probe.

Kim has been under attack from families of those killed at Kwangju for being too timid in taking on the generals. On the other side, a sympathy vote for Chun and Roh in their home regions cost Kim’s party dearly in recent elections. Meanwhile, the eight defense lawyers for Chun and Roh resigned last month to protest what they termed the court’s railroading of their clients to please the president.

Chun, 65, has maintained he was not responsible for the use of force in Kwangju and that he was unaware of the crackdown until the day after it began. He and Roh have said they felt they had to restore order or risk a military intervention by North Korea.

In his final statement, Chun accused his successors of trying to rewrite history.

“I have no fear of punishment or intention to cling to life,” the former general said. “I hope I am the last to stand political trial.”

Chi Jung Nam of The Times’ Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.