Thousands of radical students pelted
riot police with firebombs and rocks today in Seoul and other
cities, and demanded the arrest of former President Chun Doo-hwan on
corruption charges.
   It was the worst political clash in Seoul since major
anti-American protests last summer. Many police officers and
students suffered cuts and other injuries from firebombs and rocks,
but there were no overall figures.
   Police did not say if any protesters were arrested.
   In Seoul, about 3,000 students fought police in four areas near
Chun's house in a fashionable residential suburb. Clashes were also
reported in several provincial cities.
   ``Arrest Chun Doo-hwan. Punish (President) Roh Tae-woo,''
students in Seoul shouted as they hurled firebombs and repeatedly
charged police despite a dense fog of tear gas.
   About 9,000 police were posted along streets and alleyways
leading to Chun's house to repel the protesters. Police used tear
gas whenever students tried to break through their lines.
   Traffic came to a standstill and most shops in the areas were
closed as the fighting persisted for several hours. Many pedestrians
wore gauze masks or put hankerchiefs over their noses to filter out
the acrid tear gas.
   In front of Sogang University at the center of Seoul clashes,
about 700 students, brandishing hundreds of firebombs, repeatedly
charged about 500 riot police who were blocking their march. Police
retaliated with tear gas.
   Firebombs exploded in showers of orange flames near or amidst
columns of police, who deflected the missiles with shields and put
out blazes with hand-carried extinguishers.
   Several blocks away, near the house of opposition leader Kim
Dae-jung, another group of 500 students battled police with rocks
and firebombs. Kim's house is about eight blocks from Chun's.
   In the southern city of Kwangju, about 2,000 students held campus
rallies or took part in street protests to demand Chun be punished
for alleged corruption and human rights violations.
   In Chunchon and Ansung in eastern and central South Korea, dozens
of students also attacked with firebombs a police station and a
government party office. No injuries or major damage was reported.
   News reports said thousands of students had held anti-Chun
rallies on their campuses to prepare for a march on Chun's house.
Fighting erupted at some schools as students tried to march out.
   Anti-government demonstrations have been escalating in recent
weeks as radical students organized ``save-the-nation suicide
squads'' and threatened to raid Chun's house to press for his arrest
and punishment.
   The anti-Chun march was part of anti-government strategies by
radical students, who are also calling for an ouster of President
Roh.
   They argue that hte Roh government is dragging its feet on a
probe of alleged corruption and other scandals involving the
ex-president, his family members and associates.
   Roh and Chun, both former army generals, have been close friends
since they were classmates at Korea Military Academy in the 1950s.
Roh succeeded Chun, who stepped down following protests at the end
of a seven-year term in February.
   Chun has come under public fire for his alleged misuse of power
during his tenure. One of his brothers, Chun Kyong-hwan, has been
sentenced to seven years in prison for taking bribes and embezzling
millions of dollars worth of official funds.
   Former Seoul Mayor Yom Bo-hyon, a close confident of Chun, was
also sentenced to a five-year jail term last month for taking bribes
and illegally helping the business of some family members of the
ex-president.
   Chun is also under investigation for his alleged role in
militarily suppressing a 1980 civil uprising in the southern city of
Kwangju that resulted in the deaths of about 200 people.