• several potential crises, and his tenure coincided with the first peaceful trans-
fer of power and democratic presidential election in Korean history. He is
presently a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute in Wash-
ington and a frequent contributor on Asian matters on network television
and in major news magazines. Ambassador Donald Gregg was a driving
force for reducing anti-Americanism in South Korea and instrumental in
refocusing and expanding the U.S.-Korean relationship. Since his retirement
from government service, he has been the chairman of the Korea Society,
headquartered in New York, and has built that organization from infancy
to major-league status.
On the Korean side, fate has played a rather remarkable hand. Chun Doo
Hwan, the leader of the / coup, became president of South Korea in
September, . His tenure as president was reasonably successful in most
respects. He appointed capable and experienced people to the government
and was a competent executive. The economy flourished during his admin-
istration, and many Koreans paid him grudging respect, despite the fact that
his regime was highly authoritarian in nature. During the presidency of Kim
Young Sam, he was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including
mutiny, treason, and corruption in connection with the / incident and
the Kwangju massacre. Sentenced to death and to pay a huge fine, he was
eventually pardoned in December, .
Roh Tae Woo, Chun’s classmate and lifelong friend, succeeded him as
president. Roh was the first Korean president in over a generation to be se-
lected in an open and honest election. His tenure included the successful
hosting of the Seoul Olympics in but was marked by serious corrup-
tion. He was arrested at the same time as Chun and found guilty of similar
crimes, receiving a sentence of more than twenty years in prison and a fine
of over million dollars. He also was pardoned in .
Kim Young Sam succeeded Roh as president. One of his first acts in office
was to purge the military, ensuring that the armed services would never be
able to mount another coup. His administration was plagued by corruption
and without notable accomplishments.
Kim Dae Jung survived six years’ imprisonment, several assassination
attempts, numerous restrictions on his political activity, and foreign exile.
In he was elected to the presidency. One of his first official acts was to
pardon former Presidents Chun and Rho as well as their supporters, the very
group that had sentenced him to death in . Despite the fact that he was
not held in especially high esteem by some senior American officials during
the s and s, U.S.-Korean relations during his administration have