South Korean Police Officer Killed in Clash With Students

SEOUL — Thousands of police retreated in a haze of tear gas and a hailstorm of rocks Monday when students demanding South Korean President Kim Young Sam’s resignation attacked them with firebombs and metal pipes.

One police officer was killed, reportedly from a blow with a pipe. Dozens of the retreating officers were seen in flames. Students overcame about 10 officers and stripped them of their gear; some officers were left bleeding, and dozens of others were sprawled on the pavement along with abandoned helmets and shields and broken bottles.

The tear-gas fog and poor dusk light also hampered officers’ retreat on the fourth straight day of clashes between students and police. About 550 students have been detained since Friday, and police said 320 were still being questioned.

Most of the officers whose clothing caught fire were rescued quickly. The extent of their injuries was not known.

Students and police clashed throughout the day in downtown Seoul, with students chanting “Kim Young Sam, step down!”

The president’s popularity has plummeted after the arrest of his son and several close aides in a bribery scandal and allegations from opposition parties that he spent way beyond the legal limit in his 1992 campaign.

Kim offered a vaguely worded apology Friday for “past wrongdoings” but did not disclose his campaign spending.

Monday’s most violent melee began when students tried to break police blockades to enter Hanyang University. About 7,000 students already were holed up inside the campus for a big rally planned for today.

Helmeted police forming human barricades were kicked by students or hit by those wielding metal pipes.

Students hurled hundreds of firebombs.