Approved For Release 2000108/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO3400560003-,l THE WASHINGTON POST Moe' South J~orean Dissident Travels to PYOngang Illegal Trip Draws Threat of Punishment From Seoul Government By Peter Maass swial to The Washington Post SEOUL, Ma Irch 26-South KO- rea*g ~ most famous dissident has begun an illegal visit to communist North Korea and may, be arrested whefi he returns to the South, gOv- ernment officials said today. Moon 1k Kwan, 71, reportedly arrived in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang yesterday via Tokyo, marking the first time that a leading South. Korean dissident has visited the northern city since the Korean War ended in 1953. Vi ,sits,there are prohibited ex .cept. m4rare,cases al)- proved Ib.. the government. y Moon's visit, which apparently, surprised officials here, dominated. news broadcasts and drew aquick., and harsh response from the gov- ernmebt [A senior South'K6rean prosecu;for was quoted by state ra- dio Sunday as saying that Moon would Jace legal action under a tough anticommunist law that car- Iriis a maximum penalty of death,. Reuter reported,], Jhough the South and the;~Notth are still technically at war,'Sbiith Korean ~ President - Roh Tae'Woo said last , year that Pyongyang should be viewed as a partner, not as an enemy, and he proposed wide- ranging exchanges. Negotiations have yet to be #gf$ As a result , reia~elonsi with North.Korea have become the focus -of intense discits- sions among many South Koreans, who for decades were. legally. pro- hibited from talking about the sub- ject and who have expressed a strong desire for reunification. Seoul, with- the consent of the main opposition'parties, has prohib- ited dissidents and militant stu dents-who have criticited R6h's, insincer' efforts " as being e and weak-from setting up their own channels of contact with the North. Officials have said they .Fear that The government has also deployed police to block illegal prounirkation marches to the border. (Authorities deployed thousands of riot troops throughout Seoul on Sunday to end antigovernment protests by radical groups, The Associated Press re- ported. No incidents were reported in Seoul but students were reported to have clashed with riot police in two southern provincial cities.] Seoul's political reforms include allowing the circulation of some books, photographs and movies about : North Korea-all strictly banned until a year ago. The govern- ment has also allowed firms hire to trade openly with the North, ands lier this year permitted Chu-ng Ju Young, founder 'd the - Hyundai to visit Pyongyang, whe r-e he Group, agreed to help develop a tourist area. The''visit by, the Princeton-edu cated Moon, however, goes beyond the bounds of what the government is willing to tolerate. Moon grew up in northern Korea but fled south~ in the. 1940s after hiss father, a Pres byterian minister, had,, been jailed twi ice by the cornmunists. Moon, frequently jailed in the South during the 1970s and 80s, was invited to Pyongyang earlier independent talks or exchanges this year to participate in talks that could undermine their authority and North Korea proposed between po- be manipulated by North Korea to litical leaders from each side. The F'-010*1"la2"10~MWqu(NA-R,§P§-e-toAtma4bO560 AFGHAN, From Al~ squadron, manned by othe Afghan Army tank crew guerrilla traineew- "We have 16tanks in W, der, and we are training heddin to use them" he tank driver claimed that hE taught by a captured Sc crewman four years ago. ' 10 months to learn he ad- At the moment, they a 31---- __-1_ may be arrested In South Korea 'Love for the U.$,- Hws Koreans .144o( For MOON, From A16 Their criticism of the United States is rooted in a sense of be- trayal. South Koreans are steeped in the hierarchilcal conceptions of in their view the tole of authority figure die United States took on four dec- ades ago meant that in return for the loyalty of people here their in- terests would be protected. The rage now felt by s4xne South Ko- reans, derives from their pe ption that the United States r.0ce tually worked against the interests of the Korean people by dividing the couni try and supporting dictators and that it continues to do so today- "Koreans are bitter as well as sad," Moon Kwan says. -rhey feel they are betrayed by a trusted I , friend.. For a generation, South Koreans read grade-scho.1 textbooks extol- ling the virtues of the United States. Moon Tong Hwan's Amer- ican wife, Faye Moon, recalled that South Korean women used to ask her for the recipe for apple pie. The Moon brothers even adopted west- em names while in the United cute, becoming Timothy and Ste- ven Moon. 'It was like a dream country,' Moon Lk Kwan recalled of his Pal ception of the United States, "a great Christian nati(xL' He lived through the famous 1965 blackout and vividly remembers how ex- traordmargy generous New York_ ers were as they helped ewh other cope with the power failure. 'Cour- teous," 'kind," "gentle.* and "con-- scientious' are some of the words he uses to describe his feelings about Americans in that era, '2roved Ap The younger had similar inipressions when he studied in the U.S. from 1951 to 1961 at several seminaries. Still, he began to expe. twice some uneasiness, even route hints of racism, although none jf this was yet strong enough to change his pro.American disposi- tion. He recalled that when he be- came engaged to an American wo. man, a close American friend told him that she would have been op- It posed to his marrying her daug ter. "Americans were kind to me, but I was always kept at arm's length.* Moon Hwan said in an interview at his home. His wife, Faye, nodded in ailreement. The sound of American music wafted into the room from a stereo turned on by one of their children Korean names a , who have ad speak both Korean and English. An anti-American poster hangs on a A Presbyterian deacon. Faye Moon.speaks fluent Korean and is a social activist who counsels, among others, Korean prostitutes who U.S. soldiers. For nearly nine she was an al years in the 1970s, cohol and drug-rehabilitation coon- selor for the U.S. military in Seoul. She now laughs about the irony of having worked 'for the [U-S-1 gOv- ernment that was supporting the di-t- that - keeping MY h- band in jail.- After spending about eight years translating the Bible into Korean, Moon Ik Kwan joined his brother in opposition politics in the mid-19703, but his dispute was chiefly with the generals ruling South Korea, not with the United States. The turning point for the Moms-as for most Koreans now critical of the United States-was the 1980 Kwangju up- rising, in which more than 200 peo- ple were killed when the military government of Chun Don Hwan sent troops into the provincAal cap- ital to put down a student-led rebel- lion against the regime. At the outset of the crisis, Mean Kwan was accused of helping plot a revolution and jailed. He was pris- oner number 202, and the re- nowned opposition leader Kim Doe Jung was number 201. While in jail, Moon Kwan learned of the Kwangju deaths and of the allegations-la- ken as fact by students and dissi- dents--that the U.S. military mas- tninded the suppression of the uprising. 'For the first time, I was able to see the Korean problem in an inter- national context,' Moon Kwan said. "Syrighman Rhee, Park Cluing Hee, Chun Doo Hwan-to me, they had been the enemies. But all of a sud- den I realized that America and Ja- the strings be- pan are pulling all hind them. . . . America knew what was happening [in Kwangju) and ... condoned it- That was shatter- ing." In the wake of Kwangiu; Moon Kwan, says, "I awakened from tbe dreams' Moon Hwan was traveling in Eu- rope when the Kwangju incident occurred in May 1980, and was un- able to return to South Korea be- cause a warrant had been issued here for his arrest, Instead, he went to the United States as a political exile and tried to arouse interest in the human-rights abuses committed by Chun's truirtial-law regime. But Moon Hwan said be was ig- nored by the Washington establish- ment and shouted down by ordinary Americans during a speaking tour in ..2 "I was so naive" about Amerka ' * which he criticized U.S. policy. fhey got angry: he recounted. "They said, 'We sent our boys to Korea to die, and now you speak like that! They were furious. They won IdWt listen. People stood UP and walked out." It was a dismaying experience, and Mom Hwan left the United States for home in 1985 with vastly different ideas than when he ended his previous sojourn in 1961. 'For us Koreans, it's foolish to expect Amu" to do anything for ur and our Idemocracy.' he said. 'The IU S,1 government handles the sit- nation according to the interests of people -who are concerned only about thereselves.... It is hope- les&- , For Moon Awav, there is the added dismay of competing family loyaldim "Maybe it is because I mrried an American; this has made America my second natim,' he said. For his son in the U.S. Air Force, America is a first nation, and this appears to pain Moon Hwan. He tried to persuade his son not to join, MOON TONG HWAN "I admired America for a while" but he insisted because being an Air Force pilot was the only way be could fulfill his dream of becoming an astronaut. -flat's his desire,' Moon said no- easily. 'I cannot force him' We tried to help him see differently, but he stuck to the idea." Whatever their present sympa t.hies, the Moons and their country )n remain tied to America. Mo( Kwan still has some yellowed pic- tures of himself dressed in a U.& Army uniform, and he plans to hold on to them because 'that was part of my life; I cannot throw them out." Moon Hwan expects his pilot son to settle in America, and his youngest daughter also feels more comfortable in an American rather than South Korean environment, he say$- Moon Hwan prefers South Ko- rea, but he has promised his wife Faye that once he retires from pol- itics they will return to the United States "and spend the rest of our liver there.' 340ff"RArs Complaints In S. Korea S. KOFXk From AN South Korean reaction to Bush's visit showed how even well-inten- tioned gestures can go awry in the current climate of trade tensions and rising nationalism here. U.S. officials, fearing South Koreans would feel slighted if,Bush visited only Japan and China on his trip, added the brief stop in Seoul. But today, the media repeatedly point- ed out that he was making the 'shortest visit ever by a U.S. pres- ident'. Bush met opposition leader Kim Dae Jung, a former political prison- er and dissident who for years was shunned by even the U.S. ambas- sador. Kim spent most of the meet- ing lecturing Bush on the causes of anti-Americanism, citing U~S. trade pressure as a key problem. Even ruling party chairman Park Jym Kyu warned Bush about rising anti-Americanism, according to South Korean officials who attended tl~k private meeting between the president and major party leaders. Bush acknowledged worries about anti-American sentiment, but said it does not overly concern him, according to the same sources. He told the party 1~!aders that he be- lieves many South Koreans stiff re- member U.S. sacrifices in the 1950-53 Korean War and that ex- isting conflicts can be resolved. In his speech to the National As- sembly, Bush warned South Korea not to give in to protectionism. The legislators listened silently to Bush's plea for open markets. A dozen opposition legislators boy- cotted Bush's speech. One U.S. official said Bush suc- ceeded in establishing a personal relationship with Rob and demon- strating U.S. commitment to keep its troops here. 'Given the brevity of the visit, he did what he had to do,* the official said. But one South Korean politician who asked not to be named said he believed the visit had contributed more to illustrating the gulf be- U~,Wigioa e0st SNCIal correVondent Peter Maa~s in Semd conir"Ied to, this report. 111alW-ROH TAB WOO --".. mlilicat comp"O"' /-N e-~ Approved For Release 2000108/08: CIA-RDP96-00789RO0340~~6WT-~- b S~ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 1989 A19 bore Kim- 11__SUn'g Sees S. I an D ssident filegal Visit Represents Embarrassment to Government in Seoul By Peter Maass Special to The Washington Post SEOUL, March 28--A-T6th Korean dissident's illegal journey to North Korea turned more contro- versial today with the disclosure that he has met President Kim 11 Sung, whose last re Iported meeting with a South Korean was in 1972. The visit to North Korea_y~dis-_ sideTnt- leader -1viloon _A- twin, who -j&' to faces rest once he urns Seoul, is breaking a number of ta- boos, but the meeting with Kim is seen here as particularly explosive. Visits to communist North Korea, tecbp_JqQy still at war with South Korea, are banned - eice-fit in rafe~ Cases. According to North Korean press reports monitored today in Seoul and Tokyo, the Princeton-educated Moon-and t are-6 "Ve ing compan- ions were at a luncheon given yes- terday by Kim, who discussed uni- fication issues with Moon. The press reports did not provide any comments from Moon, 71, A Pies- byterian.-min Iister who ~ ha-1 e--' n _jOedoften and iis-666 of the father figure o utYX6i6a's dissident movement. MooPleft-South Korea early last- %~kk __ for Tokyo and then traveled Fd_-11;VQR7w here the North _Ko- _~P_ - ed i ecial him to Pyongyang on `7:7 IMis expected to return to South rea before April 14, when his passport expires. He reportedly wants to return via Panmunjom, the 1 Noma truce ,village straddling the tense Demilitarized Zone that has divided the Korean peninsula since the war ended in 1953. Moon worked at Panmunjom, the symb Iol of the peninsula's division, more than 30--fe--ars ago as an inter- preter for the U.S. Army during truce talks with NorthKorea. He was born in northern Korea but fled south in the 1940s after his father was persecuted by the communists. Moon's trip takes place at one of the most volatile moments so far in South Korea's fragile transition to democracy. Hard-liners in the mil- itary and in the government, word ried about symptoms of social dis- order, are pressing conservative President,Roh_,_Tae~ -Woo -to --- crack down on dissent, and they are cer- tain to redouble their efforts in the wake of Moon's meeting with Kim. A small-scale crackdown already has begun. Police reportedly have seized more than 3,000 copies of pro-North Korean books and ar- rested 11 publishers in raids last night. In a possible sign of struggles w ithin the ruling camp, the govern- ment announced a Shuffle of 49 top generals today, including the sack- ing -of a-thre-e--star --general who failed to salute Roh at a public cer- _e - ny last week. The general's ac- tmo ion was widely interpreted as a sign of the unease that hard-line generals are apparently feeling over the itiml situation in South Ko- rea. Today's shuffle may be a bid to 66ve troublesome officers out of the powerful military, although few details were made available. Moon's meeting with Kim, shown in a blurred photograph published in South Korean newspapers this af- ternoon, puts the government in an embarrassing position because of its new policy of encouraging friendlier ties with the North and treating Pyongyang as a partner rather than an enemy. Earlier this year, the government permitted Hyundai founder Chung Ju Young to visit North Korea, and several South Korean journalists have also traveled to the North, although none has met with Kim Il Sung. The last South Korean whom Kim is known to have met was Lee Hyu Rak, then chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, who in _19,72--made a secret trip to Pyon- gyang that opened up a brief period of detente. With the exception of another brief thaw in 1985, the two sides have had hostile relations. Despite its new policy of opennes to the North, the government here has banned independent contacts because it is afraid that North Ko- rea will manipulate people such as Moon to stir up political unrest and undermine its authority. Students and dissidents oppose the govern- ment ban, arguing that if Roh can state publicly, as hehas, that he will go anywhere at any time to meet Kim 11 Sung to promote reunifica- tion, then they, too, should be al- lowed to seek contacts with the, North. South Korea's intelligence coin- munity has come under fire for not knowing in advance of Moon's plans to visit the North and failing to block him from doing so. -.4 .4 Approved For Release 2000108/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO3400560003-1