South Korea Two Steps Forward, One Back

By John Greenwald

The two men met amid all the fanfare normally reserved for a summit between rival heads of state. On one side stood Roh Tae Woo, head of South Korea's ruling Democratic Justice Party, with a smile seemingly frozen on his face. Beaming just as hard and warmly clasping Roh's hand was Opposition Leader Kim Young Sam. After an extended burst of camera clicking, the longtime antagonists sat down in the National Assembly's VIP restaurant to discuss the business at hand: a proposed amendment to the country's constitution. When they rose from their first substantial meeting nearly three hours later, the face of South Korean politics had turned firmly in the direction of democracy.

The constitutional compromise, which reflects months of negotiations, calls for direct elections of the country's President for a single five-year term. Since 1971 all candidates have run unopposed. If the measure is approved by | the National Assembly and accepted by the country's voters, as is expected, elections would be held by Dec. 20.

President Chun Doo Hwan, who retires in February, had favored an electoral college system that his party could control. But Roh, Chun's hand-picked choice as his party's candidate, gave in to popular demands for free elections after a wave of student protests last spring. Roh stood fast, however, on a number of other demands made by opposition leaders. He refused to agree to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 and rejected calls to establish a popularly elected office of Vice President.

Even as Roh and Kim chatted amiably last week, the optimistic mood was disrupted by labor violence. More than 700 disputes continue to fester following a rash of strikes that first broke out in July. At a Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, where walkouts resumed after wage talks collapsed, a striker died and three others were seriously injured when a driver, whom they had beaten, got back into his truck and ran them over. Some 13,000 strikers occupied the yard, smashing windows, setting fire to cars and battling riot police. Late in the week police raided Hyundai and a second occupied plant and dragged away 200 strikers. Alarmed by the disturbances, Kim and Roh vowed to push for revision of South Korea's labor laws, which largely favor management.

Adding to the unrest were students, who returned to universities last week after a summer recess. Some 4,000 demonstrated at Seoul National University on the first day of classes, and several hundred clashed with police at the school gate. Authorities estimated that more than 9,000 students demonstrated at 20 colleges nationwide, reflecting the continuing demand for political reforms.

Still to be decided, meanwhile, is the main opposition candidate who will face Roh in December. The contenders are Kim, who heads the Reunification Democratic Party, and Kim Dae Jung, the party's chief adviser. Though Kim Dae Jung had initially vowed not to run, he is now sounding out power brokers on whether to enter. The two Kims know that a fight between them could divide their supporters and assure victory for Roh. Says Kim Dae Jung: "All I can say now is that the opposition will come up with a unified candidate and one who will win."

With reporting by Barry Hillenbrand and K.C. Hwang/Seoul