South Korea: The Cocky Colonels

The month-old military junta zealously pursued its self-appointed goal of "remaking Korean man." Some 1,380 village headmen, soldiers and policemen were dismissed for keeping concubines. Three thousand government officials were fired for draft dodging. More than 10,000 known gangsters have been arrested and put to work in mines and road projects. Expense accounts have been abolished for government officials, who have been warned that arriving even five minutes late for work can mean instant dismissal. Gone are the high-powered smugglers' launches that once thronged Korea's harbors. Gone, too, are the "terrible tots" who extorted money from passing women by threatening to smear dirty hands on their dresses.

Stripped Men. In its drive on corruption, the junta has arrested twelve top "millionaire businessmen" on charges of "making dishonest fortunes," and warned that they will be subject to fines up to five times the so-called illegal gains. In short, the junta planned to strip the country's richest men of their wealth and reinvest it in public projects. Military officers have replaced the civilian heads of all the state corporations that control South Korea's coal and tungsten mines, produce its power, run the tobacco and salt monopoly. All over Seoul, merchants and restaurateurs nervously cut prices for fear of being accused of profiteering.

The generals took over with a promise "to transfer power to new and conscientious politicians as soon as our mission has been completed." But the junta plainly figured that this mission was going to take a long time to complete. Last week it issued a 24-article proclamation that effectively destroyed the Korean constitution. The edict dispensed with the National Assembly, abolished the civil judiciary system, threatened retroactive laws against counter-revolutionary acts.

Facts of Life. Who was boss within the junta was still anybody's guess. Last week Lieut. General Chang Do Yung's responsibilities were pared, though he remained Prime Minister and chairman of the 32-man Supreme Council. Major General Pak Chung Hi, believed by some to have masterminded the coup, was upped to chairman of the council's inner Standing Committee. Still other Korean observers are convinced that the real power is increasingly in the hands of nine young colonels on the council.

The U.S. reluctantly was facing up to the new facts of Korean life. U.S. General Carter Magruder last week took U.S. troops in Korea off "green alert," announced he would cooperate with the new regime. President Kennedy formally recognized the new government's existence in a terse two-sentence telegram to "Prime Minister" Chang thanking the general for a birthday message—but making no mention of the invitation to visit the U.S. that Chang hankers for.

The U.S. was hoping that the junta would not go the whole way of military dictatorship, was quietly reserving judgment on increasing U.S. aid and credits that Korea's deteriorating economy badly needs. But the junta's cocky young colonels were heady with power. Said one: "Even if it means living solely on homegrown rice and pickled vegetables, we cannot exchange our goals for U.S. aid."