South Korean student politics, at ta can stage in after two suspected police informers were beaten to death by militants of the radical student union Hanchongnyon. Terry Lawless reports from Seoul. A five day battle between riot police and student supporters of the National Federation of Student Councils (Hanchongnyon) at Hanyang University in Seoul at the beginning of June led to two deaths, one of which was the result of the torture by students of a man suspected of being police spy.
At the same time, the Namchonghanyon grouping of student organisations in the traditionally radical south western provinces of Cholla, announced that eight of its members were responsible for a similar torture death of a 24 year old man whose battered body was discovered at Chonnam University on May 27. Organisational crisis
These regrettable events testify to the serious ideological crisis in the organised student movement. Since the August 1996 disturbances at Yonsei University, 40 of the country's 156 student councils have pulled out of the national organisation.
An attempt to organise a one day student strike earlier in the spring term to protest the recent political scandals centring on the collapse of the Hanbo chaebol (conglomerate) and accusations of bribery and influence-peddling in high places was largely a failure, with most students choosing to ignore the boycott.
Nevertheless, at the beginning of June 1997, 6,000 students made the trip to Seoul in order to attend the inauguration of the new Hanchongnyon leadership. Violent confrontations occurred because riot police were under orders to prevent the ceremony from taking place.
Hanchongnyon had previously been outlawed under the National Security Law as being pro-North Korean, the most serious crime on South Korea's statute books.
Hanchongnyon called a halt to the violent demonstrations when a riot policeman was accidentally crushed by a police vehicle during a riot. But a second man, Lee Suk, died after two Hanchongnyon militants repeatedly beat him to force a confession that he was a police spy. Three students now face murder charges. Repression
The ruling New Korea Party reacted by ordering the dissolution of Hanchongnyon by the end of July. A government spokesperson suggested that only members of the central leadership of the organisation will be targeted, not member student council participants.
Central students leaders who are still affiliated on August Ist will face prison terms. Prosecutors have said that they will also close all offices of the student group in an effort to enforce the dissolution decree. Ninety-nine prominent Hanchongnyon members are currently on a police wanted list and face overseas travel bans.
Police say that 1,249 students have been questioned and 214 arrested for throwing firebombs or wielding steel bars during the course of the disturbances. Hanyang University is suing Hanchongnyon for 108.6 million won ($121,000) in damages.
Myongdong Cathedral, a traditional focal point for student and worker protest, has urged 31 Hanchongnyon members to stop a sit-in protest begun on Thursday June 12 protesting Kim Young-sam's failure to reveal by how much he exceeded the legal financial limit in his successful bid for the presidency in 1992. Myongdong Cathedral has traditionally been off- limits to the police. Solid support
Police estimate that the core group of Hanchongnyon numbers between 2,000 and 3,000. The organisation still wields considerable influence, particularly in the traditionally radical south-west and at key universities in Seoul.
The defection of 40 students councils is a serious blow, but also means that a large majority of the students councils remain supportive. Only 20 student leaders attended a recent meeting at Joong-ang University in Seoul following the announcement of the first torture death, and demanding that the leadership of Hanchongnyon resign.
It is too early to say whether the recent events mark the impending collapse of the organisation. But the South Korean student movement is clearly in ideological disarray.
These recent torture deaths indicate the seriousness of the crisis.