2 Ex-Leaders Guilty of Mutiny in S. Korea; Chun Given Death

Former South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan was sentenced to death today, and former President Roh Tae Woo was given more than 22 years in prison, for seizing power in a 1979 mutiny.

In an emotional conclusion to South Korea’s “trial of the century,” a three-judge panel also confiscated war chests worth about $631 million illegally amassed by Chun and Roh during their dictatorships.

The two former presidents were convicted of masterminding a “creeping coup” that began with an army mutiny in 1979 and ended with a massacre of pro-democracy protesters in the southwestern city of Kwangju in 1980. At least 240 people were killed. Chun has insisted that his actions were necessary to defend the country against a possible attack by North Korea in the unstable aftermath of the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung Hee.

The generals who ruled South Korea in the postwar period have all left office in coups or in coffins. Until now, none has ever been punished for misdeeds.

For many South Koreans, the very fact of the trial was stunning proof that democratization is coming to their country. To the relatives of the victims, however, today’s verdicts seemed a sham.

Chun was acquitted of “murder for the purpose of sedition,” and the commander who led the troops into Kwangju, Park Joon Byong, was acquitted of all wrongdoing. Roh’s sentence was lighter than expected. Prosecutors had sought a life term, Instead, he received 22 1/2 years.

Thirteen other senior military officials received prison sentences of four to 10 years.

Outside the courtroom, the sentences were greeted by howls of rage from the white-robed relatives of those people killed protesting the military dictatorships.

“This entire trial is a staged kangaroo court,” said Pae Eun Shim, mother of a Yonsei University student who was killed by shrapnel from a tear-gas canister during a 1987 demonstration. “I don’t care anymore what happens to those ugly old guys. Let their children be murdered and let them live in sorrow and agony for the rest of their lives.”

The sentences were seen as setting the stage for President Kim Young Sam to reduce the punishments and bind South Korea’s political wounds before next year’s presidential election.

Three organizations from Kwangju issued a statement reiterating their contention that Chun was not solely guilty and calling for the reinvestigation and punishment of those responsible for the massacre.

“I see little difference between Kim and Chun,” said Sohn Kum Soon, 63, whose 14-year-old son left home to join the Kwangju demonstration and never returned. His body has never been found. “If Kim is really interested in righting the wrongs of history, he should order a full investigation, including a search for the secretly buried bodies.”

“I am not satisfied,” said Park Jong Ki, whose son, a Seoul National University student, was tortured to death by security police in 1987. “Kim Young Sam is making a mess of everything. He has the opportunity to do right, but he is not doing right. He is too busy seeking the support of the people from the old regime.”

Under the South Korean system, verdicts and sentences are announced simultaneously. The decisions are both likely to be appealed.

Kim Tong Gill, a seasoned and sharp-tongued professor turned politician, had predicted that Chun and Roh would be sentenced to death and life imprisonment, respectively, as requested, if only so that the government could continue to jail them through the lengthy appeals process.

In order to secure the election of his handpicked successor, President Kim particularly needs support from the people of the Kyongsang region, home to both Chun and Roh. Clemency for the two former presidents could make Kim’s party more popular there.

Before Kim was elected president in 1992, he visited the Park family and promised to erect a statue to their slain son. Since becoming president, “he has not paid any attention at all to the families of those who sacrificed their lives for democracy,” Park said.

Some of the nation’s most powerful business leaders, accused of stuffing the two presidents’ coffers with bribes, could still face up to 15 years in prison. They include Lee Kun Hee, the chairman of South Korea’s largest conglomerate, the Samsung Group, and Kim Woo Choong, chairman of the Daewoo Group. The outcome of the corruption case, a separate proceeding, is expected this afternoon.

In a city made jittery this month by the most violent student demonstrations in years, the court asked for beefed-up security to protect the judges from possible terrorism.

The trial was held in a gleaming, 20-story glass-and-marble tower that Roh himself commissioned. People began lining up three days before the sentencing in hopes of snagging one of the 80 tickets being handed out for courtroom spectators. Ironically, scalpers were poised to try to extort big money from a corruption trial; rumor had it that the black-market price for the courtroom admission tickets could run into the thousands of dollars.

Many South Koreans, however, grew bored with the proceedings, in which witness after witness mumbled through testimony claiming not to remember anything that would be self-incriminating or implicate President Kim.

But Park, father of the student tortured to death in 1987, said today: “‘It is progress toward democracy. It is now unavoidable that they shall be judged by history.”