Protests Disrupt Roh Campaign in 2 S. Korean Cities
SEOUL, South Korea — Riot police fired tear gas and battled anti-government protesters Thursday as dissidents again attempted to break up campaign appearances by government presidential candidate Roh Tae Woo.
Hundreds of protesters shouting “Down with the military dictatorship!” and other anti-government slogans disrupted Roh’s campaign rallies in two provincial cities. It was the second day of such disturbances.
About 500 students shouting “We oppose Roh as president!” staged a sit-in in front of a railway station in Iri shortly before Roh was to make his second campaign speech of the day there.
The plaza turned into a battlefield, and the violence forced Roh, who was not at the scene, to hold a three-minute rally with about 2,000 supporters elsewhere in the city, an opposition stronghold 137 miles south of Seoul.
Earlier, in nearby Chonju, dozens of dissidents trying to break up Roh’s campaign appearance at a gymnasium burned and ripped up his portraits.
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