WORLD : Koreans Burn U.S. Envoy Effigy
Radical students hurling firebombs burned effigies of U.S. Ambassador Donald Gregg and President Roh Tae Woo today in the provincial city of Kwangju to protest Gregg’s visit, reports said.
About 500 radical students yelling anti-American slogans hurled firebombs and rocks at 900 combat-clad riot police outside the main gate of Chosun University, reported Yonhap, the South Korean news agency. No injuries or arrests were reported.
Gregg apparently did not see the violence, news reports said. He was the first U.S. ambassador to visit Kwangju, a provincial city 155 miles south of Seoul, since a 1980 civil uprising in which 200 were killed and 1,500 injured. Many Kwangju citizens believe that Washington condoned the mobilization of the Korean military to put down unrest and silence government dissent. Washington has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
