Large amnesty granted by Seoul government

South Korea granted amnesty Monday to 5,221 government critics and minor criminals, the largest clemency in Korean history, to herald President Chun Doo Hwan's inauguration to a new, seven-year term. The amnesty affected 307 people involved in last year's Kwangju insurrection and a general sentenced in the assassination of the late President Park Chung Hee. But it did not include the nation's leading dissident, Kim Dae Jung, serving a life term for plotting to overthrow the government last year.

The act of clemency, which coincided with a call by London-based Amnesty International for an end to 10 years of torture, imprisonment, and other human rights violation against South Korean dissidents, will take e ffect March 3 when Chun is sworn in.