Confrontations between Korean, Chinese students turning physical

Comments, presumably written by a Chinese student, are posted on a bulletin board at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, Monday, on which Korean students post messages supporting the protests in Hong Kong. The comments read: "You are not Chinese or Hong Kong people. Don't speak without thinking," and "Shut up!" spelled incorrectly in Hangeul. / Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Korean and Chinese students clashed at a Seoul university Tuesday over the former's support of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Amid continuing tensions between the two sides on college campuses here, this was the first case involving physical assaults.

According to Seodaemun Police Station in Seoul, Thursday, a physical clash broke out between Korean and Chinese students in a Myongji University building at around 8 p.m., Tuesday.

The conflict, when the Chinese students tried to cover a poster put up by the Korean students in support of the Hong Kong protests with one of their own opposing them. The Korean students tried to stop them.

A security guard at the school reported the incident to police, and officers arriving at the scene asked the students to voluntarily accompany them to the station for questioning. The students agreed, and were later allowed to return to their residences after giving brief statements.

The officers said they would summon the students again for further questioning.

Similar tensions have been taking place at dozens of universities here, and a Seoul National University (SNU) students group requested police, Wednesday, to investigate a recent case where their publicly posted messages were vandalized.

They set up a "Lennon Wall" and posted messages supporting the Hong Kong protests at the school's library, Nov. 6. However, the wall was damaged Monday and posters were torn down or damaged.

"We concluded somebody deliberately damaged the posters," the students said, adding they want police to charge the perpetrator with property damage.

"Damaging the wall was an act suppressing a different opinion by force and damaging the value of democracy," they said. "We are concerned that such actions will lead to anti-China sentiment. If the perpetrator is found to be a Chinese student, we will drop the complaint on condition that the person writes a letter of apology."

At Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), the school authorities removed some posters put up by Korean students supporting the Hong Kong protests, citing "students' safety."

The authorities put up a notice on a bulletin board, Tuesday, saying it would ban posters put up by outside groups and individuals.

"We must take the necessary action if irresponsible expressions of opinion cause an incident and damage order on campus," the notice read.

The move immediately drew backlash from students, who claimed that the school was blocking opportunities for discussions among students over the contentious international issue.

"At universities, various discourses and students' expression of opinion should be encouraged. And it is the school authority's duty to prevent any violence that may take place because of this," a HUFS student said during a press conference on the campus, Thursday.

"School officials' decision to remove those posters is nothing short of cowardice, because they are trying to shuffle their responsibility onto students."

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