The World : Churches Criticize Chun

Korean church leaders denounced President Chun Doo Hwan’s declaration that direct presidential elections and other constitutional changes should be postponed until after 1988. Chun called a meeting of his ruling Democratic Justice Party to rally support for his hard-line position, which he maintains is necessary to assure order in Seoul during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. The Korean Council of Churches demanded that he change his stand and said that “Olympics held with a people suppressed by physical force . . . would be a seed for misfortune.” Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou Hwan, the nation’s highest-ranking Roman Catholic, said the announcement brought sorrow to the Korean people.