Just desserts
When military strongmen get their just desserts it is more often by the sword of a vengeful opposition than by the sword of blind justice. But, despite national outrage over South Korea's 1980 Kwangju massacre and the military coup the year before, the body which sentenced former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan to death and his successor Roh Tae-woo to 221/2 years in prison yesterday is not a kangaroo court.
The hand of the incumbent president, Kim Young-sam, may have been on the hilt of the judicial weapon when the two men were put on trial for treason and mutiny.
But the verdict of the Seoul District Criminal Court was based on clear evidence of the former leaders' wrongdoing both in the manner of their coming to power and the venality of their regimes. Both men still have the right of appeal and recourse to whatever remedies the judicial system holds. Those remedies should be delivered through the courts, not for the political benefit of the ruling party.
President Kim himself, and other Asian leaders watching the proceedings from their own capitals, must be wondering uneasily what the future holds for them once they leave the safety of high office. So too will the corrupt businessmen for whom massive bribes to politicians are an everyday investment. Many Koreans were disappointed that the trial did not examine more closely Mr Kim's claims never to have taken political payments from the businessmen sentenced for bribing his predecessors. But for the man on the street, the conviction of two of the most hated figures of recent Asian history will be a victory and a relief.
The trial proves clearly that the mighty can fall and their past misdeeds need not go unpunished. It also proves that retribution can be ordered through a properly constituted court of law and need not rely on the arbitrary whims of the next dictator.
And last, but not least, the conviction of some of the nation's most powerful business leaders sends a strong signal to South Korea's giant conglomerates that political favours cannot be bought without risk.
If that message is not to be diluted, however, President Kim should think twice before granting clemency for transparent political motives. Most Koreans expect he will act to reduce the sentences before he steps down next year to win support for his chosen successor from his party's right wing. It would be a greater token of his own and his party's integrity if he were to allow the courts to decide without interference.
