Koreans Deserve Better

Uncertainty and electoral violence are both on the rise as South Koreans prepare to vote in their first direct presidential election in 16 years. The violence reflects the intense regional pride and prejudices that are now being given full vent by supporters of the three main presidential candidates. The uncertainty stems from an apparent failure of any of the three to take a clear lead among voters. Opinion polls are illegal in South Korea. But secretly taken soundings suggest that as few as 600,000 votes may separate the first- and third-place finishers in the Dec. 16 voting. Only about one-third of the electorate, in short, may choose the man who hopes to become South Korea’s next president.

Such a result would be virtually inconceivable if the key leaders of the political opposition had honored their earlier promise to unite behind a single candidate to run against the ruling party’s Roh Tae Woo. But unity, along with the chance for a near-certain triumph at the polls, fell victim to the stubborn personal ambitions of Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young Sam. Anti-government forces, recognizing the possibility that the division in their ranks seriously jeopardizes the chance to take power, are clamoring for one or the other of the Kims to step aside in favor of his rival. Neither Kim has so much as hinted at a willingness to consider doing that.

Instead, both Kims are seeking to evade blame for a possible opposition loss by claiming that a Roh victory could come about only through fraud. Cheating by a government that controls so much power of course can’t be ruled out. But what can’t be ruled out either is that vote-splitting within the opposition could give Roh a win fair and square. With their advance allegations of electoral dishonesty, the two Kims are simply encouraging the already ominous prospect that a Roh victory, even fairly achieved, would produce violent protest demonstrations, and that these in turn would inevitably trigger a harsh government response.

Somewhere in this discouraging brew of regional antagonisms, selfish ambitions and threatening allegations the vision of a renascent democracy is in serious danger of being wiped out. The Korean people have long deserved better leaders than they have been given. The way things are going, it’s also beginning to look as if they deserve better leaders than they are likely to get.