In what some South Koreans called the ““Trial of the Century,’’ the court also convicted nine leading businessmen – including the chairmen of Samsung and Daewoo – of paying political bribes, helping to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into presidential slush funds. And it convicted 21 former presidential aides and military officers on charges of corruption or assisting the coup. Most Koreans thought the punishment of the former presidents will never be fully carried out. Chun and Roh can appeal, and if that fails, South Korean President Kim Young Sam, who was elected with their support in 1992, can pardon them. Even so, the verdicts were a clear warning to other potential coup-makers. ““It’s a commencement day for Korean democracy,’’ said leading reformer Yoo Jae-Hyun. ““Military dictatorship is over now – that’s the message.''
It was heard all over Asia. An editorial in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said other Asian leaders ““must be wondering uneasily what the future holds for them once they leave the safety of high office.’’ In Indonesia, a Jakarta Post editorial said South Korea’s move toward democracy ““disproved the widely accepted development theory that economic progress in most Asian countries was only possible under a repressive regime.’’ In Burma, where the military took over in 1990, opposition figure Tin Maung Win predicted: ““If the current dictatorship continues to rule like this… they would also have to pay a price.’’ All of Asia’s authoritarian regimes have reason to be uneasy. They lack legitimacy, their power having come from the barrel of a gun. And they all have something to answer for: harsh repression in Burma, corruption in Indonesia, the 1989 Tiananmen massacre in China, among other things.
The verdict in Seoul also may complicate the reunification of Korea. The leaders of North Korea could be called to account for terrorist attacks on the South, or for mistreatment of their own people. ““The lesson for them,’’ says James Lilley, former U.S. ambassador to both South Korea and China, ““is that “if we ever unify with the South, they may get on to all the things we did in the past and seek vengeance’.''
There was a strong element of revenge in the trial of Chun and Roh. Many South Koreans believe the worst atrocity committed in 32 years of military rule was the Kwangju massacre, when government troops wantonly killed at least 200 protesters (the exact number is still a matter of debate). At first President Kim resisted prosecuting his predecessors, who had helped him gain office. ““History should judge them,’’ he said. Then last fall, word got out about the huge bribes paid to Chun and Roh. Under political pressure, Kim vowed to ““correct history.’’ He had the statute of limitations changed and ordered the prosecution resumed, for both corruption and the massacre.
The rules of the game were changed after Chun left the field. ““I don’t think it’s desirable to make an arbitrary judgment on history and the legitimacy of past governments,’’ he complained mildly in court last month. Many South Koreans are uncomfortable with the process, even if they support the outcome. ““The question is, who is guilty?’’ says political scientist Kim Byung-Kook. ““Chun Doo-hwan is at the top of the list. Most South Koreans don’t have a problem with that. But they do have a problem with the list stopping with 13 or 14 other men. Who is responsible? It’s a lot of us: students, journalists and businessmen who just sat there and watched.''
““Prosecuting former heads of state after the statute of limitations is up is a dangerous precedent for any country,’’ says William Gleysteen, who was U.S. ambassador to South Korea at the time of the massacre. He concedes, however, that the emotional Kwangju issue was ““too big to be repressed.’’ Lilley acknowledges that ““due process was one of the first victims in this long rush to deal with the past.’’ But the former ambassador explains: ““When Koreans get seized with something, they don’t let go. They have become seized with the rule of law, punishing sins and rectifying errors of history.’’ It remains to be seen whether other Asians will find their enthusiasm infectious.
