Policy Intrusion by Unification Church Alleged : 5 Quit Washington Times Editorial Posts

The editor of the editorial page of the Washington Times and four members of his staff quit Tuesday to protest what they saw as an abrogation of the editorial freedom they had been promised by the owners of the paper.

A representative of the owner denied the charge, as did the paper’s editor-in-chief.

The Washington Times was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1982 by News World Communications, a company owned by members and officials of the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of South Korea. The paper was designed to provide what its owners called “an alternative, conservative voice” in the nation’s capital, but Moon and his associates have repeatedly promised the paper would operate independently of the church.

Sought Changes in Editorial

William P. Cheshire, editor of the paper’s editorial page since February, 1984, said Tuesday night that this independence was compromised earlier in the day when Arnaud de Borchgrave, editor-in-chief of the paper, wanted to make changes in a pending editorial after having consulted Sang Kook Han, senior vice president of News World Communications.

Cheshire said de Borchgrave had initially and “enthusiastically” agreed with the editorial being written for today’s editions--an editorial criticizing “the termination of moves toward democracy” by President Chun Doo Hwan of South Korea. The editorial said Chun’s actions were “autocratic . . . contrary to the philosophy of our own country” and would make it “increasingly difficult” to retain congressional support for the retention of 40,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.

Cheshire said that after consulting Han, de Borchgrave said he wanted several changes in the editorial--changes that blamed South Korea’s present turmoil on Chun’s opposition in South Korea, thus “changing the editorial 180 degrees,” in Cheshire’s words.

Han is a former South Korean ambassador (to Norway, Iceland and Panama), and “to rely on his opinion as to the correct posture of the newspaper on the government of South Korea . . . is . . . nonsensical . . . and an abrogation of our agreement . . . that the Unification Church and its representative would play no role in the editorial direction of the newspaper,” Cheshire said.

Both Han and de Borchgrave told the Los Angeles Times late Tuesday, however, that they did not discuss the editorial. De Borchgrave, former longtime chief foreign correspondent for Newsweek, said that after meeting with the paper’s editorial staff and agreeing on the editorial, he “decided to call some of my South Korean contacts” to discuss the issue.

One of the people he consulted, he said, was Han, “who’s in touch with those people (in South Korea) every day.” Han said the subject came up “casually,” as de Borchgrave left the office, and Han gave him his assessment of the situation.

Both men said there was no mention of a pending editorial in their conversation, and de Borchgrave then spoke to Michael J. Bonafield, deputy editorial page editor, who was writing the editorial.

De Borchgrave said he wanted the editorial revised to “express not only the perception on Capitol Hill but the realities that . . . (Chun’s opponents) have made it impossible to move forward with constitutional reform.”

De Borchgrave said that when Cheshire and Bonafield accused him of taking directions from Han, he denied it and told them to write the editorial however they wished “and I won’t even look at it before it goes into print.”

Cheshire and his staff finished putting out today’s editorial page--with no editorial on South Korea--and he, Bonafield, two other editorial writers and Cheshire’s administrative assistant then gave de Borchgrave their letters of resignation.

“It is no longer possible, in my judgment, for the Times to maintain independence from the Unification Church under the editorship of Mr. de Borchgrave . . . “ Cheshire said.

Two of the paper’s editorial writers did not resign; one was not in the office Tuesday, and the other, Sam Francis, said he was “not completely persuaded” by Cheshire’s “interpretation” that intrusion by the owners had taken place.

‘Never Received Suggestion’

De Borchgrave said he has “never received an editorial suggestion, let alone a directive,” from church officials in his two years at the paper, “and if I did, it would be a breach of my contract and I would resign.”

De Borchgrave called Cheshire’s charges “absurd,” and said he’s willing to take a polygraph test to substantiate his position.

He said Cheshire’s resignation was an “emotional reaction . . . a long time building (over) some basic disagreements.”

The two men have disagreed several times during de Borchgrave’s two years at the paper, and Cheshire’s departure was not altogether a surprise. Woody West, former executive editor of the paper, will take his place, at least on an interim basis, de Borchgrave said.