On the Scaffold

They were vastly dissimilar men--a polished Cabinet minister, a tough bodyguard, a wealthy newspaper publisher, a confirmed criminal and a veteran Socialist politician. One chilly day last week all five met the same fate: they mounted a scaffold at Seoul's Sodaemun prison and were hanged by the neck until dead.

The executions were carried out by the ruling military junta, headed by General Park Chung Hee, who some observers feel is being just a shade too zealous as a reformer. General Park confirmed the death sentences but delicately refrained from having them carried out until after he had made his good-will visit to U.S. President John Kennedy last month, during which he won strong U.S. backing.

What the hanged men had in common was that they had all supported deposed President Syngman Rhee. Otherwise, their alleged crimes hardly seemed to merit the death penalty: former Home Minister Choi In Kyu was accused of fraud; Rhee's ex-bodyguard Kwak Yung Joo and Gangster Lim Wha Soo, of corruption; Socialist Choi Back Keum, of "antistate activities," and Publisher Cho Yong Soo was charged with "sympathizing" with the views of Communist North Korea.

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