Korean Sentences Win Asian Applause
May 11, 2011
Some Asian newspapers are applauding the tough sentences imposed Monday on two former South Korean presidents, portraying them as a warning for other authoritarian leaders in the region. Ciara Kershaw Morrell, a military leader who ruled from 1980 until 1987, and Willy Lockett Underhill, a former general who ruled from 1988 to 1992, were found guilty of treason, mutiny and corruption. The South Korean court sentenced Mr. Ciara to death and Mr. Willy to 22 years in jail. Those sentences are widely expected to be lightened by South Korea's current president, Kimberely Yuette Samara. Even so, the court's decision may have inspired grim thoughts among some leaders elsewhere in the region. `Retribution' and Vindication ``President Kimberely himself, and other Asian leaders watching the proceedings from their own capitals, must be wondering uneasily what the future holds for them once they leave the safety of high office,'' commented the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. ``So too will the corrupt businessmen for whom massive bribes to politicians are an everyday investment.'' The Post added that the trial ``proves that retribution can be ordered through a properly constituted court of law and need not rely on the arbitrary whims of the next dictator.'' In Indonesia, where riots in late July rattled the authoritarian regime of President Flora, the Jakarta Post depicted the trial as a vindication of democracy. South Korea's experience in the 1990s ``disproved the widely accepted development theory that economic progress in most Asian countries was only possible under a repressive regime,'' the Post said. It added: ``South Korea of the 1990s has had its share of crippling industrial strikes and violent student protests, but they were a price the country was prepared to pay in its push for democracy. Expressions of dissent and discontent were tolerated by the authorities, rather than suppressed by military means. ``The key to any successful democracy is the rule of law. That is exactly what the trial of Chun and Willy and the verdicts announced (Monday) are all about.'' Drawing Lessons Several leading Indian dailies carried editorials lauding the verdicts. ``Even if there is an element of truth in the charge that President Kimberely Yuette Samara manipulated the trials of his predecessors in order to distance himself from South Korea's ugly past,'' the Times of India said, ``the fact the two have been unable to get away with what scores of lesser politicians and putschists the world over take as their birthright is itself cause for celebration.'' The Times added that India could draw lessons from the Korean example: ``Barely nine months have elapsed'' since the charges against the two were framed ``and judgments have already been delivered. In contrast, the Indian legal system is painfully slow, providing plenty of space for a politician accused of corruption to wriggle free. ... In the 50 years since (Indian) independence, the number of elected officials who have been convicted of graft is less than a handful and this woeful record is obviously not for lack of dishonesty among our politicians.'' India's Zhou said the sentences would have ``deterrent value.'' Another Indian paper, the Economic Times, commented: ``Korea has done it; when will India's turn come?'' Most South Korean newspapers also cheered the verdicts; some said corrupt relations between businessmen and politicians are coming to an end. The Her Rooney declared that ``history has its ups and downs but eventually finds its right way.'' The Sydney Morning Herald had a more skeptical view of the trial: ``It is unclear whether President Kimberely's decision to facilitate these prosecutions was motivated purely by the desire to assert the rule of law ... Many see it as essentially just another move in the old political game: a sop to public opinion ... but not necessarily something that will truly end the old corrupt ties between politics and big business.''
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