S. Korea Ex-Chief’s Death Sentence Cut, TV Says

A South Korean court today reduced a death sentence handed down to former President Chun Doo Hwan to life in prison, and cut to 17 years from 22 1/2 years the jail term for another ex-president, Roh Tae Woo, state television reported. The two had been convicted of mutiny and treason for seizing power in a 1979 coup.

Chun and Roh have denied that they plotted a mutiny or ordered a subsequent military crackdown that killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters.

The Seoul High Court also is to rule on the appeals of 13 other former generals who were convicted of involvement in the takeover and crackdown.

The trial is a centerpiece in South Korea’s efforts to come to terms with its history of harsh military rule. Generals ruled South Korea for 32 years until Kim Young Sam, a civilian, took power in 1992 and began wide-ranging reforms.

Chun, president from 1980 to 1987 and Roh, his successor, also were convicted of taking bribes from business people and fined $270 million and $350 million respectively.

Judges are also due to rule on appeals by five business tycoons, including the chairman of Daewoo Group, found guilty of bribing Chun and Roh and six former presidential aides convicted for acting as bagmen for payments worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the presidential Blue House.

The defendants can appeal to the Supreme Court, and hearings could drag on until well into next year.

The marathon trial, part of President Kim’s campaign to “right the wrongs of history,” has been overshadowed by fresh corruption scandals involving Kim’s Cabinet.

Few South Koreans believe that Chun will hang, even if he exhausts the appeals process. An amnesty for both ex-presidents is seen as likely before Kim’s single term expires in 1998 after presidential elections next December.

As he prepares to anoint a chosen successor, Kim needs the support of right-wingers who once backed Chun and Roh and who are deeply unhappy at the social turmoil whipped up by Kim’s drive to purge South Korea’s corrupt legacy.

Hard-liners have been strengthened by a political lurch to the right in South Korea.