South Korea

He stood before the cameras in his own drawing room, his eyes heavy with fatigue and his voice contrite. For 27 minutes in the full glare of national television, Korea's former President, Chun Doo Hwan, apologized abjectly to his countrymen for the crimes he committed during 7 1/2 years in power. Before retreating with his wife to a Buddhist monastery, Chun promised to surrender his house, a skiing condominium, two golf-club memberships and at least $3.3 million to the government.

While many Koreans were touched by Chun's self-humiliation, others were unmoved. Opposition leaders called for further investigation, and radical demonstrators demanding Chun's arrest battled with police. By the weekend President Roh Tae Woo, who has tried to distance himself from his former close friend, called for national forgiveness for Chun. Asked Roh: "When he himself apologized deeply, how can we stone the former President alone on the grounds that there were many mistakes in the past?" But Roh stopped short of granting his predecessor the official pardon Chun had hoped for. Roh's caution probably reflects his uncertainty about whether the Korean people are ready to forgive.