South Korea Kicking and Screaming

By Bruce W. Nelan

As the newly formed ruling party of South Korea met to celebrate its merger last week, a referendum of sorts broke out in the streets. About 70,000 protesters, mostly students, took control of downtown Seoul and 16 provincial cities. They battled police, injuring 335 of them, and fire bombed party offices and the U.S. Information Service headquarters in the capital. More than 1,800 rioters were arrested, but only 55 were formally charged.

In spite of the optimism with which the formation of the Democratic Liberal Party was welcomed four months ago, its fortunes are already going downhill. At the national elections in 1987, President Roh Tae Woo received only 36% of the vote, and his party was stymied for two years by an opposition-controlled national assembly. So when two of the three rival parties joined Roh's group to form the D.L.P., which now holds 218 of the 299 parliamentary seats, it looked as if Roh's promised "democratization" program of liberal reforms would be pushed ahead. Opinion polls showed an approval rating of 60% for the new coalition.

By last week, under the weight of collapsing hopes and a faltering economy, public approval of the D.L.P. had dropped to 14%. The new political alignment had not cleared the legislative logjam. It seemed to many Koreans that their new leaders were more interested in squabbling over the division of personal power than in dealing with the urgent issues: an economic growth rate that fell 50% last year, a sudden trade deficit, rising rents and widespread strikes.

"The ruling party was engrossed in its internal strife," said the daily Dong-A Ilbo, and was ignoring domestic affairs. Roh admitted in a speech last week that his administration "has not been able to gain public confidence in the consistency of its policies."

Student leaders charge that Roh is planning to use his parliamentary control to postpone elections, scheduled for 1992, and prolong his rule. There is no evidence to support this so far, and among professional politicians Roh is more often accused of weak leadership. His nickname, "Water," reflects the view that he is a bit slippery and hard to pin down.

This week marks the tenth anniversary of the uprising in Kwangju, where police killed 200 antigovernment demonstrators. Despite elaborate security measures, renewed demonstrations in Seoul and Kwangju are likely. Most South Koreans are more interested in solving the country's economic ills than in joining the students in the streets. But Roh must convince them that the government is serious about dealing with those problems. Otherwise social unrest could bring a crackdown on dissent and stall progress toward democratization.

With reporting by David S. Jackson/Hong Kong