The Two Koreas_ A Contemporary History - Don Oberdorfer [99]
The contrast with the hard-edged, decisive Chun could not have been greater. I noticed that in an hour's conversation, Roh never mentioned Chun except when I brought up his name, although the office contained a framed photograph of the two men in their shirtsleeves, in addition to the obligatory official presidential portrait. When I asked about Chun, Roh said that their relationship had changed somewhat since the announcement of direct popular balloting but that "our friendship to each other, loyalty to each other, has not changed." Although it was not generally known at the time, Chun was privately agonized about whether he could really trust Roh as his successor, according to Kim Yoon Hwan, who has known both men since high school days and who held senior Blue House positions under both men.
Roh Tae Woo was born on December 4, 1932, in a farming village near Taegu. His father, who worked in the village office, was killed in an automobile accident when he was seven, and he was brought up by his mother. After brief military service at the start of the Korean War, he joined the Korean Military Academy in its first fouryear class, the famous eleventh class, which included Chun and many others who later came to power as political and military leaders.
Chun and Roh became close friends. Chun, who attended a technical high school in Taegu, is two years older. He was almost always in the leadership role, with Roh a supportive follower. Before becoming president, Roh had been the successor to Chun in at least five official posts, including senior aide to the ROK army chief of staff, assistant director of operations for President Park's Blue House security force, and commanding general of the Defense Security Command. Chun was the leader of the December 1979 military coup that vaulted a new generation to power; Roh played an essential supporting role in bringing troops from his Ninth Infantry Division from the front lines to Seoul to support the facedown with the existing authorities.
A person who has known both men well since their military academy days described Chun as "a very simple man who sees pictures in black and white" and Roh as "a man of environment and situation." Another Korean, who had watched both men as political leaders at close range, said that "the secret of Chun's leadership was his assertiveness," while Roh was "calculating and cautious" as well as surprisingly artistic, being interested in music, poetry, and novels.
My second candidate interview, with opposition leader Kim Young Sam, took place over breakfast at the Japanese restaurant of the modern and expensive Lotte Hotel. A man at ease with himself, he quickly discarded his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves as we ate fish, rice, miso soup, and pickles. Kim had met the rival opposition leader, Kim Dae Jung, ten times in the previous six weeks and said he planned to continue meeting at least weekly until they reached a joint decision about which of them would run for president. "The public expectation is for the nomination of one [opposition] candidate as soon as possible," he said. In the meetings, "we promised each other we would have a united front to achieve democracy."
The assassin of president Park, KCIA director Kim Jae Kyu (right) reenacts the fatal dinnertime shooting for prosecutors. (Joong-ang Photo)
Citizens of Kwangju parade through the streets in a popular uprising in May 1980 after brutal ROK special forces units temporarily withdraw. Many Koreans hold the United States partly to blame. (Photo by Lee Chang Sung / Joong-ang Photo)
Presidents Park Chung Hee and Jimmy Carter review troops during Carter's 1979 visit to Seoul. While cordial in public, the two presidents quarreled bitterly in private over the U.S. troop withdrawal policy.