South Korea: Rocking the Boat

Into Seoul last week bounced retired U.S. General James A. Van Fleet, 69, breaking diplomatic china with every step. Van Fleet, who was U.N. commander during the heaviest fighting of the Korean war, is a bit of a hero to every South Korean, and often called "the father of the ROK army." Invited to Korea by the junta, Van Fleet briskly put his seal of approval on the generals' coup d'etat against democratically elected Premier John Chang. "The finest thing that has happened to Korea in a thousand years," declared Van Fleet.

If Van Fleet was aware of the U.S.'s official disapproval of the junta's strong-arm methods, he was undeterred. Van Fleet criticized the U.S.'s former U.N. commander, Carter B. Magruder, who on the day of the coup ordered top South Korean officers to remain loyal to John Chang's civilian government. "General Magruder acted illegally," declared Van Fleet. "Those ROK generals who refused to go along with the coup should have disobeyed his order." In fact. Van Fleet suggested, the Koreans were not yet ready for democracy. Said he: "It's all right to talk about representative government, but except in great countries like the U.S. and Great Britain, such a system lets elements get into the government and destroy it in underdeveloped countries where the enemy is lurking."

At the U.S. embassy, diplomats were appalled. They had been urging the junta's new boss, Major General Pak Chung Hi, toward liberalization of his tough military rules, and the restoration of as many democratic institutions as possible. Just before Van Fleet began sounding off, they seemed to be having some success. Pak called a press conference to announce that the government would have a "refreshing announcement" by Aug. 15, detailing at that time how and when the country would be handed back to civilian rule. Pak has released one-third of the 20,000 prisoners arrested in the early days of the military takeover, including 2,560 of the 3,098 political prisoners. Pak also announced the outlines of a five-year plan to raise the gross national product 46.3% by development of Korea's power, cement, coal, steel, oil refining and fertilizer industries.

But U.S. officials would breathe easier when Van Fleet boarded his plane and left. Sighed one embassy aide: "He could have better helped both Americans and Koreans here by remaining silent."