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Article: Crackdown: South Korea.(South Korean government cracks down on student protesters)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- August 24, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SEOUL
OLDER South Koreans thought they had grown accustomed to student protests. Clashes between riot police and student radicals have become a regular ritual in recent years, normally coinciding with the pleasant weather during the spring and autumn terms. A few fire bombs are usually thrown in return for a large number of tear-gas grenades. Both sides then call it quits and go home happy.
But last week's battle for Yonsei University in Seoul was something different. Some 20,000 riot police were mobilised to break up a planned rally of about 7,000 students. Army snipers were dropped by helicopters to cover the storming of a student stronghold that had been ...