The torch relay makes it way to Seoul, South Korea, for another troubled stop.
Thousands of young Chinese who assembled to defend their country鈥檚 troubled Olympic torch relay pushed through police lines here on Sunday, some of them hurling rocks, bottled water and plastic and steel pipes at protesters who were demanding better treatment for North Korean refugees in China.
Two North Korean defectors living in South Korea poured paint thinner on themselves and tried to set themselves on fire to protest what they condemned as Beijing鈥檚 inhumane crackdown on North Korean refugees, but the police stopped them, according to witnesses and officials.
The South Korean police and Chinese students also overpowered at least two other protesters who tried to impede the run along a 15-mile route through Seoul. The route was kept secret until the last minute and was guarded by more than 8,300 police officers.
The globe-trotting relay of the torch leading to the Beijing Games in August has spurred protests in some cities against China鈥檚 crackdown on protests for independence in Tibet. However, in South Korea, one of the torch鈥檚 final stops before entering the safety of China, demonstrators focused on human rights for North Koreans who live in hiding in China after fleeing hunger in their homeland.
According to Chinese state media, the torch arrived late on Sunday in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, one place where the Chinese authorities can be sure there will be no protests. North Korea, an ally of China, said it was preparing an 鈥渁mazing鈥� welcome, indicating that the totalitarian government would mobilize hundreds of thousands of flower-waving people.
Hours before the torch run began in Seoul, which hosted the 1988 Summer Games, several thousand Chinese, mostly students studying in South Korea, converged on the Olympic Park, singing, chanting and waving signs that read, 鈥淲e love China,鈥� or, 鈥淕o, Go China.鈥� With groups of Chinese marching with Chinese flags wrapped around them, the park looked like a sea of red.
When a few protesters demanded that China stop repatriating North Korean refugees, they were quickly surrounded by jeering Chinese. Near the park, Chinese students surrounded and beat a small group of protesters, news reports said.
In another scuffle, at the city center where the five-hour torch run ended, Chinese surrounded several Tibetans and South Korean supporters who unfurled pro-Tibet banners, and kicked and punched them, witnesses said.
South Korean-owned bakery Tous le Jours was already the target of Chinese protesters who thought it was French. Maybe they’ll be back!
