Korea Crowd Pelts Roh With Rocks and Bottles

Protected by shields and campaign posters showing him with President Reagan, Roh Tae Woo, the ruling party’s presidential nominee, withstood attacks by tear gas, eggs, sticks, bottles and rocks here Sunday to deliver a speech pleading for reconciliation in South Korea.

Although Roh was uninjured, it was the most serious violence so far in the campaign for president in the election scheduled Dec. 16. At least 10 people were injured.

A crowd containing many supporters of native son Kim Dae Jung--a Roh opponent--hurled objects at the former army general as he stood atop a truck heading toward his rally site and again as he delivered an abbreviated speech from a platform.

Stinging Fumes

“Please calm down! I have already surrendered to you with my June 29 announcement (promising democratic reforms),” Roh pleaded with the crowd of 50,000 as rocks smashed around him and tear-gas grenades thrown by students sent stinging fumes into his eyes.

From the beginning, it was clear that Roh expected trouble.

Bodyguards held up transparent plastic shields around Roh as soon as he climbed atop a truck to begin a procession down Kumnam Street, where brutality by paratroopers transformed demonstrations against President Chun Doo Hwan’s 1980 coup into a rebellion in May of that year. By official count, 194 persons were killed.

A sober-faced Roh, who gave key support to that coup, in which Kim Dae Jung was arrested, waved mechanically to the hostile crowd.

Boos were followed by chants of “Kim Dae Jung! Kim Dae Jung! Kim Dae Jung!” and cries of “Down With Military Dictatorship!”

Then, a hail of eggs, stones and sticks erupted from the crowd, many of which hit the bodyguards packed tightly around Roh. The bodyguards and Roh’s campaign vehicles were splattered with eggs by the time he reached the speaker’s platform.

There, bodyguards formed a makeshift tent of shields over and around him.

As a barrage of rocks, sticks and eggs thickened, officials holding posters that the ruling party has been using throughout the campaign--showing Roh with President Reagan--joined in protecting their leader by holding these placards around Roh as makeshift shields. Others grabbed folding chairs and held them in front of their faces.

Opposition leaders had criticized Reagan for meeting Roh in September, although U.S. officials insisted that the informal chat did not represent endorsement of the former general’s candidacy.

Only when hundreds of plainclothes police and party bodyguards joined in a circle around the base of the speaker’s stand and pushed the crowd back out of throwing distance did the barrage let up.

Police did not interfere with the unruly crowd during Roh’s appearance. But afterward, clashes broke out with bands of several hundred students as thousands of bystanders watched in the plaza in front of the railway station.

Roh made nearly all of the remarks he had prepared--including a pledge to improve the status of women--as if nothing were happening, but he cut his presentation to 12 minutes. Bonfires of posters and pamphlets sent up billows of black smoke at spots throughout the crowd as the crack of exploding tear-gas grenades punctuated his words.

In a comment added spontaneously, Roh told the crowd that “the stones and bottles you are throwing at me will not help democratization but will only move it backward.”

Third Disruption

It was the third time supporters of Kim Dae Jung had protested campaign rallies in Kwangju. Opposition candidate Kim Young Sam, who like Roh hails from the Kyongsang region of the southeast, and Roh himself suffered disruptions here earlier.

Antipathy runs strong between Kyongsang natives and those here in the Cholla region.

Meeting with foreign correspondents afterwards, Roh said he was not afraid.

“People didn’t have any deadly intention. They just wanted to disrupt the rally with stones and eggs. If there had been deadly intentions, I would not have been able to go through to the end of the speech,” he said.

“Democracy is difficult,” he added. “I’m prepared for an even worse situation, but I will endure. I’m prepared to endure to the end. I’m ready to sacrifice myself for democracy, as I sacrificed myself on June 29.”

Sweeping reform proposals that he made that day included allowing a direct presidential election instead of indirect one, in which he--as the government party candidate--would be guaranteed victory. The reforms held out the hope of ending authoritarian rule and brought 18 days of nationwide street protests to an end.

“The people responsible for the violence will regret it as time goes by. . . . Although I was gassed, I’m sure things will get better,” he said.

Roh, surrounded by guards, left the stage teary-eyed and flushed. He was taken away in a jeep ringed by bodyguards with shields. Again, rocks and eggs pelted the vehicle as well as photographers’ trucks ahead of it.

Finally, the procession fled from Kumnam Street.