S. Korean Students Attack U.S. Building, Battle Police; 13 Hurt

Students shouting “Drive out Yankees!” attacked a U.S. government office, firebombed a police bus and injured 13 officers Friday, police and U.S. officials said.

Two police officers were seriously hurt in the battle in the southern city of Kwangju, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement. Police said four protesters were arrested.

About 100 protesters, many with iron pipes and clubs, hurled rocks and about 150 gasoline bombs at the U.S. Information Service building, the statement said.

Some bombs hit a police bus nearby that was carrying about 30 people, said the Chosun Ilbo, a leading newspaper in Seoul. No one on the bus was reported injured.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said no one was injured in the building either, although a car inside the compound was destroyed by firebombs and another was damaged.

Scaled Center’s Roof

While police outside fought back protesters, seven assailants managed to scale the center’s roof, the spokesman added.

“They tore up some tiles, wielded iron pipes and threw Molotov cocktails,” he said.

The South Korean news agency Yonhap said the students denounced the United States and demanded the arrest of former President Chun Doo Hwan, who has been under parliamentary investigation for alleged corruption and brutality during his seven-year rule. Chun left office in February.

The U.S. Information Service building has been the target of frequent attacks by radical students demanding the withdrawal of U.S. forces who are in South Korea under a mutual defense pact. Radicals contend the United States has enforced division of the Korean peninsula.

In Seoul on Friday, about 300 students battled riot police at Hankook University of Foreign Studies after burning effigies of President Reagan and South Korea’s President Roh Tae Woo. Radicals contend the Roh regime is a front for a military dictatorship supported by the United States.

The students threw dozens of firebombs and rocks at riot police, who responded with tear gas. Several students were bleeding, according to witnesses, but it was not known how many people were injured or arrested.