EDITORIAL against the park dictatorship!
Since the end of September, open demonstrations in opposition to the bloody dictatorship of Park
Chung Hee have been going on in South Korea.
The student movement has again raised its head, resisting police charges on several occasions, as on
October 10, 14, and 15. On October 5, some
20,000 South Korean Catholics (including thirteen bishops) transformed a "prayer meeting" into an antigovernment demonstration. The movements have not been restricted to Seoul, the capital, but have extended into provincial towns like Pusan, Kwangju, and Inchow. All the actions have demanded a new constitution and the release of the many political prisoners, often condemned to heavy sentences, including the death penalty.
This new rise of demonstrations came after Park's abrogation of two of the most repressive decrees instituted in 1974. The first, passed on January 8, forbade any criticism (even verbal) of the constitution, under penalty of fifteen years imprisonment;
the second threatened the death penalty for any person linked with the outlawed student organization National Federation of Democratic Youth and
INPRECOR
INTERNATIONAL PRESS CORRESPONDENCE published in English, French, Spanish, and German.
$3.50 U.S. & Canada; $4.50 Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.
2
POLITICAL PRISONERS!
IN FRANCO'S PRISONS
SPAIN FREE The general upsurge of struggle against the Francoist dictatorship in