SOUTH KOREAN ANGER AT CHINESE STUDENTS' VIOLENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000879

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2018
TAGS: KS PGOV PHUM CH
SUBJECT: SOUTH KOREAN ANGER AT CHINESE STUDENTS' VIOLENT
PROTESTS GROWS AS VIDEOS CIRCULATE THROUGH THE INTERNET


Classified By: A/DCM Joseph Yun. Reasons 1.4(b/d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: On Sunday, April 27, Chinese students
studying in Korea who had gathered for the procession of the
Olympic torch through downtown Seoul violently attacked South
Korean demonstrators who were protesting China's treatment of
North Korean refugees and Tibet. Unlike in other parts of
the world, Korean protestors did not attempt to block the
torch procession nor try to put out the Olympic flame. The
widespread dissemination of videos of the incident, which
showed the Chinese students throwing stones, garbage, flag
staffs with sharpened, javelin-like ends, and other objects
at a crowd of mostly elderly and school-aged South Koreans,
has sparked widespread anger in the South Korean public and
press. Media reports and editorials have generally portrayed
the incident as an unprovoked violent outpouring of Chinese
nationalist sentiment.


2. (C) Though MOFAT's Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon
made public the ROK's official displeasure over the incident
to the Chinese Ambassador, and while the Chinese Ambassador
also publicly expressed his "deep regrets," the incident may
not yet have run out of steam. MOFAT's China desk officer
said that in the days ahead the ROK needed to avoid the
impression of appearing "soft" on the Chinese, and that a
routine National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee hearing
on May 6 could turn into another venue where the issue could
reclaim public attention. He also mentioned that the Korean
police would prosecute Chinese students who had been arrested
at the scene. Meanwhile, South Korean NGOs that took the
brunt of the violence are demanding that the Chinese Embassy
pay for the medical bills of those injured by the students,
including one person whose ribcage was cracked by a metal
wrench thrown by one of the Chinese students. END SUMMARY.

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What Happened
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3. (C) Christians for Social Responsibility Secretary-General
Kim Kyou-ho, also a member of the Citizens' Action Against
the Olympic Torch Relay, was at the scene near Olympic Park
on Sunday when Chinese students tried to attack activists who
were rallying for the rights of North Korean refugees in
China. In an April 29 meeting with poloff, Kim said that the
South Korean activists were separated from the approximately
five thousand Chinese students (a figure that Kim claims was
provided by the Korean police) by an eight-lane major
thoroughfare.


4. (C) According to Kim, the police had instructed all
demonstrators prior to the event to march around the Olympic
torch runner after the torch had passed. However, once the
torch and police escorts passed by the Chinese students and
protestors, the Chinese students pushed through the remaining
police line to surround the group of two hundred activists,
preventing them from following the torch. When the Korean
demonstrators continued to chant slogans about the lack of
human rights in China, the Chinese students began their
violent assaults on the activists, largely elderly citizens
and young children. According to Kim, the Chinese students
first hurled bottles of water, empty soda cans, and leftover
snacks on the group. The situation took a turn for the worse
when harder objects such as stones, unopened drink cans, and
flag poles with jagged edges began to rain down on the crowd,
which tried to dodge the items under umbrellas. The crowd
was eventually dispersed when the Korean activists were led
one by one by the ROK police to safety. During the clash,
one of the activists was hit on the chest with a metal
wrench, and is currently receiving treatment for a broken rib.


5. (C) News reports suggested that Chinese students later in
the day chased down and beat foreign and Korean protestors
near Seoul's city hall, in a separate incident.

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Internet Videos Sparked Widespread Public Outrage
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6. (C) Video footage, spread through the Internet, showing
Chinese students physically attacking the Korean protestors
substantially multiplied Korean public outrage. The anger
over this incident focused mostly on the fact that the
Chinese students, whom Koreans consider guests in Korea,

initiated violence against peaceful Korean protestors on
Korean soil. According to press reports, outraged Korean
netizens pointed out that Korean students behaving in such a
manner would not be treated leniently in China.


7. (C) All of the local newspapers, including both
conservative and progressive press, denounced the incident on
their editorials pages on April 29. Most cited the incident
as a warning against the dangers of rising Chinese
nationalism. All suggested that the violence undermined
China's right to host the Olympics. The conservative Chosun
Ilbo said, "Turning violent in the capital of (the Chinese
students') host country is not acceptable behavior from
citizens of a neighboring country. It is questionable
whether China is worthy of hosting the Olympics."
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo suggested that the incident
demonstrated how the Chinese "look down on the ROK."
Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun noted that the students "even
physically attacked Koreans protesting China's armed
crackdown on Tibetan protestors, a development that was
enough to prompt the people of the world to wonder whether
Chinese nationalism is going so far that it is becoming
violent."


8. (C) The condemnations from both left-leaning and
right-leaning newspapers reflect the fact that the Chinese
students attacked demonstrators from both progressive and
conservative camps. Progressive NGOs came to protest the
Tibet issue, while conservative NGOs wanted to highlight the
plight of North Korean refugees in China. As a result, the
Chinese students offended a broad swath of Korean society at
one stroke, explaining the universal and unanimous criticism
of China following the incident.

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MOFAT Reaction: Can't Be Too Soft
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9. (C) MOFAT China desk First Secretary Ku Taehoon said that
the ROK was working to prevent Korean anger over the incident
from "boiling over" to the point where it would affect
ROK-PRC relations. At the same time, Ku stated that MOFAT
could not afford to look like it was being "soft" on China.
He noted that upset Korean netizens might make their voices
heard at a National Assembly hearing on May 6. At this
point, the issue was in the hands of the Korean National
Police, who had told MOFAT that they planned to prosecute the
Chinese students responsible for the violence.

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Chinese Reaction
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10. (C) DFM Lee made public his statement to Chinese
Ambassador to the ROK Ning Fukui that the ROK "strongly
regretted" the incident. Media reports claim that Amb. Ning
had been "summoned" by MOFAT, though Amb. Ning claimed that
he had requested the meeting in order to thank the ROK for
their special protection of the Olympic torch. In either
case, Amb. Ning has expressed his official "deep regret" over
the incident as well. To the Korean citizens involved in the
incident, however, the Chinese Embassy has yet to make
amends, said Kim Kyou-ho, who noted that the Chinese Embassy
had not responded to his group over the incident despite his
repeated calls at the Embassy gates. Kim said he would
demand that the Embassy cover the medical costs incurred by
one of the victims, who had had a ribcage bone broken by a
metal wrench thrown by one of the Chinese students. Kim
suggested that the Korean public would not be satisfied with
anything short of an official apology from China over the
incident, but that his group hoped that the incident would
not cause a bigger stir. This incident could distract the
Korean public's attention from the group's main issue of
North Korean refugee treatment in China, which Kim said was
the point of protesting in the first place. Growing anger
against the Chinese could actually marginalize the North
Korean refugee issue.

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Comment
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11. (C) This incident comes at an inopportune moment for the
PRC: ahead of an ROK-PRC summit, likely in late May, where

the ROK had planned to reassure the PRC that the ROK's
warming relations with the U.S. and Japan did not mean a
deterioration in relations with the PRC. The violence
displayed by the Chinese students, gathered in large part by
the PRC Embassy, has sapped whatever sympathy or support
South Koreans might have been able to provide China in light
of the current pre-Olympics worldwide attention to China's
Tibet policy. At the scene of the incident, Kim Kyou-ho
reportedly held up one of the stones that the Chinese
students had thrown and commented, "And these are the people
that will be hosting the Olympics?" This is turning into a
public relations disaster for Beijing. END COMMENT.
VERSHBOW