South Korea: Less Fun For Chun

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For hours this month, mesmerized South Koreans stared at their television sets as a national melodrama unfolded. Witness after witness tattled to a National Assembly investigating committee tales of corruption during the regime of former President Chun Doo Hwan, 57. The sordid revelations of wholesale cheating sparked widespread outrage among ordinary Koreans, and the government even had to mobilize 20,000 riot police to quell demonstrating students and dissidents. Citizens want the money back or Chun on trial. The mounting pressure seems to have reached the ex-President. He is expected to go on television this week to apologize for the perfidy, which has already landed nine of his relatives in jail. In exchange for a pardon, Chun will reportedly return some of his ill-gotten gains to the government and retire to the country outside Seoul.