World Notes South Korea

The move had been expected since parliamentary elections two months ago, but the speed--and the numbers involved--caught the country by surprise. In 48 hours last week, South Korea's largest opposition group, the New Korea Democratic Party, was strengthened by the entry of more than 30 Deputieselect from other opposition factions. The defections, mainly from the Democratic Korea Party, gave the N.K.D.P. 102 seats in the 276-member National Assembly, more than the one-third required to exercise real political power.

When parliament convenes later this month, the N.K.D.P., guided by Kim Young Sam and Kim Dae Jung, South Korea's top antigovernment leaders, will thus have the clout to block constitutional amendments, bring no-confidence motions against Cabinet ministers and call emergency sessions of parliament. The consolidation will make it virtually impossible for President Chun Doo Hwan's ruling Democratic Justice Party to play opposition groups off against one another.