Kim Dae Jung Bids Farewell

Kim Dae Jung, the self-exiled South Korean opposition leader, called for democracy in his home country yesterday at a Faculty Club luncheon. "With democracy, South Korea will become another West Germany," he proclaimed in front of faculty, friends and members of the press.

The talk, sponsored by the American Committee for Human Rights (ACHR), may mark the last time Kim will speak in Cambridge, as he will return to his homeland in February for the first time since his release from prison there in 1982.

Kim, who has "dedicated [him] self to his people's aspirations for democracy and human rights" hopes that by returning to his homeland he will "instill hope in South Korea's young" and preserve the struggle for democracy until 1988 when presidential elections are scheduled.

Free elections have not taken place in South Korea since 1971 when Kim was defeated in the presidential election. The reigning military dictatorship of President Chun Doo Hwan has threatened to either imprison Kim or place him under house arrest upon return.

Gregory Henderson, author and specialist in Korean affairs questioned the success of free elections. He suggested that even if they were to occur, the present electoral procedures would allmost ensure Chun's re-election.

Without continued hope and activism in South Korea, Kim said that the current political situation will worsen and that by 1988 all that would remain is a "highly polarized political system" with an "extreme left and extreme right party. Democracy and security are inseperable."

Advantageous Instability

During the luncheon, Visiting Law School Professor Phillip Alstron questioned whether or not stability would improve the current situation in light of Kim's statement that U.S. support of the current government is a major obstacle to democracy. Alstron, who called current U.S. human rights programs "cosmetic," suggested that instability might be an advantageous in drawing President Reagan's support.

Not Like Aquino

Barbara Webber, representing Abernathy and Mitchell a public relations firm in Washington. D.C. that has organized and publicized Kim's return, said they "hoped to prevent a situation similar to the Aquino affair." In 1983, the Philippine dissident returned from exile only to be assassinated as he stepped off the plane.

No Press

According to Webber, Chun's government has already forbidden press coverage of Kim's arrival at the airport. The only documentation of the event will be by those reporters who travel with Kim to South Korea. Webber suggested that the Aquino incident was made possible by the absence of press coverage.

"Horrendous" Suffering

Harvard professor of Sociology Ezra Vogel expressed similar doubts at a fundraiser of the ACHR last night. Vogel called Kim "heroic" and his suffering "horrendous," but added that he "was not sure that [Kim's return] was a good thing for either Kim or South Korea."