South Korean students and police clash on May 1st

South Korean students and police clash during May Day rallies

SEOUL, May 1 (AFP) –

Radical students hurled a volley of firebombs at riot police Monday in a violent May Day protest against the planned sale of the ailing Daewoo Motor Co. to a foreign buyer.

The clashes erupted outside Korea University late Monday when thousands of riot police stopped some 2,500 students from marching towards the centre of Seoul.

It was the most violent demonstration by students in two years since former dissident Kim Dae-Jung became president in early 1998.

Hundreds of protestors shouting anti-government slogans bombarded riot police with hundreds of firebombs, AFP photographers said. Some students hurled rocks or brandished steel pipes to stem a counter-attack by police.

"Scrap government plan to sell off our prized auto firm to foreigners," shouted the protestors, who also urged President Kim Dae-Jung to stop his economic reform drive.

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