Graft and Budding Democracy : Only an unhindered probe in massive case will serve South Korea’s people

The more than three decades of military rule that ended in South Korea in 1993 saw spectacular economic development, often brutal repression of civil liberties and--no secret at the time--high-level corruption as business leaders kicked back huge bribes in exchange for favorable loans, monopoly privileges and government contracts. Only now, however, is the magnitude of the graft becoming clear, with revelations that Roh Tae Woo, the last general to hold the presidency before Kim Young Sam’s election, controlled a $653-million slush fund, more than one-third of which he personally pocketed.

Roh, after first denying any wrongdoing, has now expressed remorse for amassing the illicit fortune. He faces possible arrest and trial. His incarceration would disturb few South Koreans. But a prosecution that revealed the names of those who gained from the secret fund is certain to roil national politics.

The biggest donors are believed to have been the conglomerates that control huge sections of the economy. But a full investigation is also likely to name at least some public figures who benefited from the slush fund. Already Kim Dae Jung, the opposition leader long identified with the cause of democratic reform and honest government, has admitted accepting $2.6 million from Roh. Kim Dae Jung says Kim Young Sam also took money, an allegation the president denies.

President Kim has vowed to clean up government corruption, but the scandal has inevitably harmed his credibility as well as popular confidence in the political process. Kim Young Sam has long been criticized by some for not acting to punish Roh and his predecessor, Chun Doo Hwan, for alleged crimes during their tenures. Now, as a result of the scandal, he faces a potential breakup of his ruling party before next April’s National Assembly elections.

President Kim, whose term ends in 1998, is above all else the protector of South Korea’s nascent democracy. His most responsible course is to enhance faith in that democracy by fully supporting an unhindered investigation of the apparently staggering level of corruption that accompanied South Korea’s long era of military rule.