South Korean Students Hurl Firebombs In Anti-Government Rally

Associated Press, 10 May 1997

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)—Hundreds of students lobbed firebombs at police at an anti-government rally Saturday, demanding that President Kim Young-Sam resign over a bribery scandal.

After police slammed shut the steel gate of Seoul’s Sungkyunkwan University to keep the protesters inside, the students threw hundreds of the gasoline bombs over the gate. The bombs smashed in flames on the pavement.

Police fired tear gas in response. No arrests or serious injuries were reported in the 40-minute clash, which prompted merchants around the university to shutter their stores and close early.

The students, about 400 in all, say Kim failed to keep an election promise to eliminate government corruption.

Eleven people, including a Cabinet minister and three key aides to the president, are on trial on charges of receiving or giving bribes in exchange for arranging preferential bank loans to Hanbo Steel Industry Co.

The president’s son, Kim Hyun-Chul, has also been implicated in the scandal, with opposition politicians alleging that he took money from Hanbo and other businesses seeking his influence. The son has denied any wrongdoing, but South Korean news media reported Saturday that prosecutors were investigating the allegations.

Hanbo Steel, the nation’s No. 2 steel producer, collapsed in January under the weight of $6 billion in debt, mostly in bank loans.