10,000 in Seoul Riot in Call for Chun’s Arrest

About 10,000 protesters, demanding the arrest of former President Chun Doo Hwan o n corruption charges, clashed with South Korean riot police Saturday in what was described by authorities as some of the fiercest street fighting here in more than a year.

The violence erupted after police fired tear gas to prevent the crowd, which consisted mostly of militant students, from marching to Chun’s house.

At least 11 officers were injured, authorities said. Witnesses said that dozens of injured protesters were seen being carried away, but police gave no figures for the total number of injuries or arrests.

Students wielding sticks and iron bars were observed beating several police officers, and riot police were seen doing the same to students, according to several news reports.

The rioting was the second outbreak of widespread anti-Chun street violence in as many days.

Middle-Class Support

Saturday’s protests, however, drew the support of many middle-class workers, marking an escalation in pressure on the embattled Chun, who is beset by charges of wholesale wrongdoing during his seven-year rule.

The protests began with a rally in the eastern part of the city, during which students burned effigies of Chun, President Roh Tae Woo and Uncle Sam, while thousands of what appeared to be middle-class citizens, many of whom were dressed in suits, cheered and shouted “Arrest Chun Doo Hwan!”

Waves of students then swarmed through the neighborhood throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the riot police who were there to block their way.

Police responded with volleys of tear-gas grenades. The students, however, managed to make their way into the heart of the city, sparking additional clashes with police.

Authorities said it was some of the fiercest street fighting since June, 1987, when massive protests forced then-President Chun to agree to widespread reforms. Firebombs and tear-gas shells flew through the air in front of trendy department stores, the main train station and luxury hotels.

Tear gas also filled the streets of seven other South Korea cities--Wonju, Chunchon, Cheju, Kwangju, Taegu, Taejon and Pusan--as police fought students at anti-Chun rallies, authorities reported.

The scandal over corruption allegedly committed by Chun and his family has become the major political issue in South Korea in recent months.

Chun has flatly refused to testify before a special National Assembly investigating panel.