Olympics Special Section: Olympic Shorts: Protest Pro Forma

Protest Pro Forma

For most of the summer, students who favor unification of North and South Korea and an end to American influence have been clashing with police. However it played on foreign television screens, in Seoul these confrontations had the feel of street theater, not revolution. Students knew just how far they could go, and the riot police knew their roles too.

The choreography became familiar. Students would throw stones and fire bombs; the police would respond by tossing back the stones along with some pepper gas. An hour later, both groups would call it quits. As if on cue, a water truck...

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