By Kim Tae-jong
South Korea said Thursday that it will toughen entry visa rules for Chinese students in the wake of their violent protests during a recent Olympic torch relay in Seoul.
“We are going to talk with the related authorities over steps to toughen the issuance of entry visas for Chinese students and other Chinese people,” said Moon Tae-young, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The tough stance comes as public anger shows little signs of subsiding over violence committed by Chinese demonstrators on South Korean activists protesting Beijing’s crackdown on Tibetan separatists, and its treatment of North Korean refugees.
Choi Yong-ho, a civic group representative, filed a complaint with police against Chinese Ambassador, Ning Fukui, claming the ambassador to Seoul should also be held accountable for the violence by the students during the Olympic torch relay.
“The Chinese Embassy is directly and indirectly involved in the violence by its own people here. So we are demanding they should take responsibility for it,” Choi told The Korea Times.
Choi is one of the protestors who sustained minor injuries during the clash with Chinese students.
The Chinese Embassy has been accused by some media of encouraging the students to gather for the “protection” of the Olympic torch.
At the same time, an ad-hoc committee set up by Christian groups for human rights and other civic groups for North Korean defectors has started fact-finding work about the Chinese violence.
In reaction to the suit, the embassy said the complaint was unacceptable, although it expressed condolences to the injured Koreans.
“The students in the streets were not `rioters’ but supporter for the torch relay,” an official statement of the embassy said regarding the violence. “But regarding the clash between a few Chinese students and anti-Chinese demonstrators, we call for a fair investigation.”
The clashes on Sunday erupted as a small group of protesters demonstrated against China’s forced repatriation of North Korean refugees and its crackdown on Tibetans. About 10.000 Chinese supporters, mostly college students, reacted to the protest violently _ they threw water bottles, stones, pieces of wood and drink cans.
In a series of incidents, Korean activists, a local newspaper photographer, other civic group members and riot police officers were injured and beaten up, witnesses said.
The united civic groups also called for the relevant authorities’ stern action against those involved in the assaults.
After coming under public criticism, the government Tuesday announced that it will deport any Chinese nationals found guilty of attacking local protesters during the Olympic torch relay. Police are trying to trace four Chinese students after analyzing video clips and photographs of the violence during the relay.
