Jeered by angry crowds both inside and outside the courtroom, two former military strongmen went on trial Monday for seizing power 16 years ago.
Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, who led South Korea through one of its most turbulent eras in the 1980s, faced mutiny and treason charges in connection with a 1979 coup and a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators several months later.The trial is the most striking development in President Kim Young-sam's efforts to come to terms with South Korea's history of corruption, successive coups and harsh authoritarian rule.
"The unfortunate incidents have turned the tide of South Korea's modern history," prosecutor Kim Sang-hee declared as he opened his case in Seoul criminal court.
The defense, saying the former presidents are victims of political persecution, argued that they acted in accord with the constitution.
"There can't be a discontinuation of the country's constitutional history," chief defense lawyer Chun Sang-suk said. "If the period is denied, how can the current administration exist?"
Some 20 people were arrested for throwing rocks and eggs Monday at the two buses that brought the ex-presidents to the courtroom. Dozens of protesters shouted for the men's deaths.
After the trial adjourned for lunch, Chun and Roh stood up to shake hands, bow and exchange greetings. At that point, the father of a student leader beaten to death by riot police during a 1991 demonstration stood up and swore loudly at them.
Others in the public gallery booed. A scuffle broke out when the father was hit by an unidentified man. The two ex-presidents were quickly led out of the courtroom, as the father shouted: "They're traitors in history! We should execute them even if we have to mobilize students."
The two ex-presidents, childhood friends and later military buddies, are already on trial separately on charges of bribery.
Outside the courtroom, more than 100 people lined up for two nights in freezing weather for admission tickets.
Also on trial Monday were 14 retired generals, including two former defense ministers, charged with involvement in the coup and the May 1980 military crackdown in the southern city of Kwangju.