Newspaper Article

If Seoul Is to Enjoy Democracy

Richard L. Walker, professor of international relations at the University of South Carolina, was Ambassador to South Korea from 1981 through, 1986., Richard L. Walker

1987

Overview

Recent cries on the streets for ''democracy now!'' have tended to portray democracy as an absolute condition - get rid of the present Government or hold direct elections and then democracy will be achieved. Democracy is a process, and as many sophisticated South Koreans, both in the Government and in the opposition, have reminded me, South Korea lacks some of the institutions and traditions for modern democracy. A direct Presidential election will not necessarily bring the millennium. It could, however, give a nudge toward acceptance and legitimacy, and that is a necessary step toward the first peaceful transfer of power that President Chun Doo Hwan seeks. Seoul has handled its economic and social change with remarkable sophistication. Inflation has been defeated, the international debt is being paid off and a new middle class is sharing in the benefits of the economic ''miracle.'' Moreover, South Korea has just passed through its first period of intense political turbulence without calling out the military to restore order.

• Publisher: New York Times Company
• Subject: POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT / WALKER, RICHARD L (PROF)