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Outrage at Kim's expulsion quickly spread to the volatile university campuses. Following a series of antigovernment rallies, major riots erupted in the southern port city of Pusan. More than 3,000 students, joined by older demonstrators, charged through the streets, attacking government buildings. A total of 73 policemen were injured, and scores of demonstrators arrested. The protests spread to the industrial city of Masan. Park responded with a crackdown—ordering virtual martial law in both cities.
The rioting shook longstanding Western confidence in the stability of Park's regime. When Defense Secretary Brown visited Seoul two weeks ago, he brought with him a letter of rebuke from Carter, protesting Park's repression of human rights.
Washington's main worry now is who will succeed Park, and what the new President will stand for. According to the constitution—which foreign observers believe will be honored by the interim government—the 2,583-member National Conference of Unification, which is a kind of electoral college, must meet within 90 days and choose a President. Observers in Seoul very much doubt that Park's successor will be Acting President Choi, a bureaucrat who seems to have neither the stature nor the following for the job.
One name on many tongues is Kim Jong Pil, 53, the first director of the KCIA and the husband of Park's niece.
He served as Premier from 1971 to 1975, but then more or less dropped out of politics, apparently disenchanted with Park.
Another possibility is Chung II Kwon, 61, the much decorated first four-star general (retired); his distinguished career includes terms of service as Foreign Minister, Premier and speaker of the assembly.
Both men are considered pro-Western antiCommunists, who will carry on Park's foreign policies. Especially now, they could both be expected to lobby even more strongly than Park did against any further withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea. And in either case, a more liberal regime could well emerge in response to the new opposition pressures. Neither of the possible leaders, of course, was making a move while the country mourned its fallen President.
''The wheeling and dealing won't start until after the funeral,'' said one senior political figure. ''But then there is an awful lot to get settled.'' For Seoul, that was probably the understated judgment of the year.