South Korea's caretaker government rescinded martial law one night last week, and the move proved premature. Hundreds of students marched through the streets of Seoul shaking down pedestrians for American cigarettes ("Our politicians live in luxuryforeign cigarettes will burn the fatherland!"), seizing Japanese records from tearooms ("Japanese swords are hidden in these melodies!"), and dragging civil servants out of cars bearing blue, official plates ("Why are you using official transport after office hours? Who do you think you areSyngman Rhee or somebody?"). The puritanical demonstrators lit big bonfires of cigarettes and records and then swept through Seoul's biggest...
SOUTH KOREA: Repressive Influence
Subscriber content preview.
or
Log-In
To continue reading:
or
Log-In