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By Root 1768 0

of the bunker, received fragmentary reports of ROK troops moving in and around Seoul and of a shoot-out at the residence of General Chung. American and South Korean officers were unable to contact some major units, which did not answer telephones or radios, but Washington came through loud and clear on a secure telephone line from half a world away, demanding to know what was happening and offering advice. From time to time, the occupants of the bunker could hear shooting nearby. Out of growing concern for the security of the ambassador and the U.S. commander, a detail of American troops was summoned for guard duty around the underground facility.

Powerless to command a halt to the action, Gleysteen and Wickham drafted a statement in the name of the U.S. government warning "any forces within the ROK" that disruption of progress toward a broadly based government would have a "seriously adverse impact" on U.S.-ROK relations. The statement was conveyed to the Blue House and both factions of the Korean military and was broadcast by Voice of America and other official American media, but it had no effect. Most Koreans were not aware of it because all Korean news outlets had been seized by the insurgents. Ignoring calls from the U.S. commander, the CIA station chief, and others, the coup leaders refused direct contact with the Americans until they had established effective control.

In mid-evening, South Korean defense minister Ro Jae Hyun and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Kim Chong Hwan, both looking pale and nervous, arrived at the bunker. Using U.S. communications, they sought to establish the loyalty of subordinate commanders, with mixed results. Wickham urged them not to order an attack on the insurgents at least until daybreak, fearing a nighttime battle with bloody and even more divisive results. Later Ro left for Defense Ministry headquarters nearby, where he was seized by plotters and compelled to assist in obtaining ex post facto authorization from President Choi for the arrest of the martial-law commander.

The nighttime takeover was in part a generational battle within the military. The deposed army chief of staff and many other occupants of top military posts were members of the eighth class of the Korean Military Academy; Chun Doo Hwan and his coconspirators were largely members of the younger eleventh class. To the shock and dismay of Wickham, who was charged with operational control of U.S. and ROK forces defending South Korea, part of a front-line division headed by Chun's classmate and close friend General Roh Tae Woo had left its positions near the DMZ without authorization, to take part in the intramilitary showdown in Seoul.

"We have been through a coup in all but name," Gleysteen reported to Washington when the morning dawned. "The flabby facade of civilian constitutional government remains but almost all signs point to a carefully planned takeover of the military power positions by a group of `Young Turk' officers" headed by Major General Chun, the ambassador cabled Washington. As to his first "groggy conclusions," Gleysteen wrote,

the December 12 incident is bad news from our point of view. The military of Korea who have remained remarkably united for 18 years under the firm, authoritarian hand of Park Chung Hee have now engaged in actions of insubordination which have not only generated animosities that may take years to work their way out but have also set a precedent for others to follow. In doing so, they totally ignored the Combined Forces Command's responsibilities, either ignoring the impact on the U.S. or coolly calculating that it would not make a difference. By their actions they have also run a serious risk vis-a-vis North Korea without giving it much thought.

The events of 12/12, as the night of the generals came to be called in Korean lore, cut short the reemergence of democratic and civilian rule, to which South Korea aspired after nearly two decades of domination by Park and his uniformed friends. Over the coming months, as the military once again took power,