SOUTH KOREA SILENT SAM, THE PRESSURE MAN THE WHITE HOUSE PUT THE 
SQUEEZE ON THE BLUE HOUSE LAST WEEK, AND SOUTH KOREA'S MONTH-LONG 
POLITICAL CRISIS VANISHED FOR THE MOMENT . BOWING TO WASHINGTON'S WISHES, 
GENERAL PARK CHUNG HEE, WHO OCCUPIES SEOUL'S BLUE-ROOFED PRESIDENTIAL MANSION, AGREED 
TO LET CIVILIAN POLITICIANS HAVE THEIR SAY AT LEAST UNTIL NEXT 
AUTUMN . THE VICTORY BELONGED IN LARGE PART TO THE MAN 
WHO RELAYED THE U.S . PRESSURE, SHORT, WIRY, U.S . AMBASSADOR 
SEMUEL D . BERGER . CALLED " SILENT SAM " BY 
THE KOREAN PRESS FOR HIS RELUCTANCE TO MAKE PUBLIC PRONOUNCEMENTS, CAREERIST 
BERGER, 51, IS A DISCREET, BEHIND-THE-SCENES DIPLOMAT . WHEN GENERAL PARK 
LAST MONTH IMPOSED A NEW BAN ON CIVILIAN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES AND 
ANNOUNCED A REFERENDUM DESIGNED TO KEEP HIS MILITARY JUNTA IN POWER 
FOR ANOTHER FOUR YEARS, BERGER SET ABOUT THE TASK OF CONVINCING 
THE GENERAL THAT HE MUST ABIDE BY HIS PLEDGE TO PRESIDENT 
KENNEDY 17 MONTHS AGO TO RESTORE CIVILIAN RULE IN 1963 . 
BERGER'S LEVER WAS THE U.S.'S ANNUAL $500 MILLION AID PROGRAM TO 
SOUTH KOREA, WITHOUT WHICH PARK'S GOVERNMENT COULD NOT REMAIN SOLVENT . 
TO A STEADY STREAM OF TOP KOREAN OFFICIALS WHO CAME TO 
THE FOURSTORY U.S . EMBASSY IN DOWNTOWN SEOUL, BERGER EXPLAINED THAT 
THE U.S . MIGHT HAVE TO RE-EXAMINE ITS AID PROGRAM UNLESS 
PARK LET THE CIVILIANS COME BACK . TO SHOW THAT BERGER 
WAS NOT BLUFFING, THE U.S . RECENTLY DELAYED A PROMISED $25 
MILLION DESPERATELY NEEDED BY SOUTH KOREA TO PAY FOR IMPORT PURCHASES 
. WHEN PARK FINALLY CAVED IN LAST WEEK, AGREEING TO WAIT 
UNTIL SEPTEMBER TO DECIDE WHETHER TO CALL FOR FREE ELECTIONS OR 
A VOTE ON HIS REFERENDUM, CIVILIAN POLITICIANS WERE AT FIRST INCLINED 
TO GRUMBLE AT PARK'S COMPROMISE . BUT IN FACT, THEY NEEDED 
THAT MUCH TIME TO ORGANIZE THEIR PARTIES FOR AN ELECTION CAMPAIGN 
. THE CIVILIANS KNEW WHO THEIR MOST POTENT OPPONENT WOULD BE 
: GENERAL PARK HIMSELF, WHO NO DOUBT WOULD USE THE SIX-MONTH 
POSTPONEMENT TO BUILD UP A GRASS-ROOTS POLITICAL ORGANIZATION STRONG ENOUGH TO 
HELP HIM SWITCH FROM FATIGUES TO FLANNELS AND TAKE OFFICE AS 
A CIVILIAN PRESIDENT . 