S. Korean Ban on Electoral Reform Sparks Protests by Students and Clergy

Students fought police on campuses across the country Tuesday and Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy joined in fasts and protests of President Chun Doo Hwan’s refusal to consider constitutional reform.

Officials said 44,000 students conducted rallies at 18 universities in Seoul and elsewhere and most ended in clashes with riot police.

Hundreds of priests, nuns and Catholic laymen took part in fasts, sit-ins and other protests of Chun’s announcement April 13 that all debate on constitutional change will be halted until after next year’s Summer Olympics in South Korea. He said his successor will be chosen by the current electoral college system. Chun’s term ends Feb. 24.

Dissidents and the political opposition want the constitution changed to provide for direct presidential elections. Chun’s Democratic Justice Party favors a parliamentary system with a strong prime minister and ceremonial presidency.

There were no over-all reports of arrests or injuries in Tuesday’s campus demonstrations. After a memorial service on the first anniversary of two students who burned themselves to death in protest, about 400 youths at Seoul National University battled riot police for two hours, witnesses said.

Also in Seoul, 33 Catholic priests began a hunger strike at Myungdong Cathedral to support 50 colleagues fasting in the southern cities of Kwangju and Chonju.

Twenty-seven Presbyterian ministers began a hunger strike Tuesday at the YMCA building in Kwangju, 170 miles south of Seoul, a church spokesman said.

After a Mass at Myungdong, the white-robed priests, followed by 400 nuns and laymen, marched about 70 yards to the edge of the cathedral compound to face 100 riot police in silent confrontation for about an hour.