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Students rounded up after police raid
Seoul campus retaken
August 20, 1996
Web posted at: 10:15 a.m. EDT (1415 GMT)SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Within two hours of a dawn raid Tuesday, South Korean riot police backed by helicopters and assault troops seized control of occupied Yonsei University buildings and hauled away an estimated 1,800 students who had demanded reunification with North Korea.
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Many students were exhausted after getting little food, water or sleep since Saturday, when police began their siege. Dozens of students were rushed to the hospital on Monday suffering from hunger and exhaustion. Police had cut off supplies to the campus over the weekend.
During nine days of often violent clashes both on and off the Seoul campus, an estimated 5,500 students were taken into custody.
Police flushed out students in one building after smashing through a bonfire of wooden desks and chairs barricading the building's main entrance. Hours later, more students holed up in a nearby science building fled into alleys and hills surrounding the Yonsei University campus, where many were hunted down.
Protest not over?
Others, however, managed to avoid capture in the raid. Later in the day, groups of students took to the streets in other sections of the capital, keeping their demonstration for Korean reunification alive.
The students routed Tuesday were the last of some 7,000 who initially clashed with police August 12 as they gathered at the university for an illegal rally advocating reunification with communist North Korea.
The government's crackdown underscores how difficult it is for South Korea to maintain its commitment to democracy in the face of North Korean "sabotage," said South Korean political analyst Kim Byung-Kook. (320K AIFF or WAV sound)
Classrooms trashed
Dozens of militant students were injured in Tuesday's assault. More than 100 have been formally charged, some under national security laws. Yonhap TV, quoting police officials, said one police officer was in serious condition with head injuries.
More than 1,000 police and students were injured over the course of the confrontations. It was South Korea's worst campus violence in a decade.
Classrooms occupied during the siege were gutted by fire, and school equipment was smashed beyond repair. "This place is beyond recognition," said university administrator Yoo Young-choon, surveying the scene.
The raid came just hours after students rejected a government offer of leniency in exchange for their surrender.
Bureau Chief Sohn Jie-Ae, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Police assault ends South Korean campus protest - August 19, 1996
- South Korean police, students clash for 6th straight day - August 17, 1996
- South Korean police storm campus, corner protesters - August 16, 1996
- Police surround students in S. Korea - August 15, 1996
- Police raid Seoul campus - August 14, 1996
- Street violence flares anew in South Korea - August 13, 1996
- Two former South Korean presidents deny charges of mutiny - March 11, 1996
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