Chinese student apologises for Olympic torch violence
A Chinese student apologised on Friday for attacking South Korean protesters during the weekend Olympic torch relay.
By Agencies |
SEOUL: A Chinese student apologised on Friday for attacking South Korean protesters during the weekend Olympic torch relay.
The apology came as the student identified as Chen walked out of a court in eastern Seoul after a 70-minute interview by Judge Choi Bong-Hee.
The judge will decide later whether to issue a formal arrest warrant for Chen, a student at Silla University in the southeastern city of Busan who was detained by police earlier in the week.
"Very, very sorry," the 20-year-old told a crowd of reporters waiting outside the court, according to Yonhap news agency.
He was accused of kicking and beating a Korean protester with a stick and hurling stones at others.
His lawyer said that Chen expressed his regret to the judge for the violence.
Police have questioned Chen and three others suspected of attacking Korean protesters during Sunday's Olympic torch relay.
The justice ministry has vowed to track down those Chinese students who kicked and beat demonstrators after widely circulated video clips of the clashes stirred anger.
It said convicted offenders may be deported. Around 300 people turned out to protest, mainly against Beijing's forced repatriation of North Korean refugees. They were vastly outnumbered by some 6,500 young Chinese shouting support for the Beijing Olympics.
South Korea delivered a message of "strong regret" to China through Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-Joon during his trip to Beijing on Wednesday.
Beijing had said the Chinese supporters had merely been protecting the flame. But it conveyed its regrets to Seoul through Lee and called for leniency for the students involved.
The apology came as the student identified as Chen walked out of a court in eastern Seoul after a 70-minute interview by Judge Choi Bong-Hee.
The judge will decide later whether to issue a formal arrest warrant for Chen, a student at Silla University in the southeastern city of Busan who was detained by police earlier in the week.
"Very, very sorry," the 20-year-old told a crowd of reporters waiting outside the court, according to Yonhap news agency.
He was accused of kicking and beating a Korean protester with a stick and hurling stones at others.
His lawyer said that Chen expressed his regret to the judge for the violence.
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Police have questioned Chen and three others suspected of attacking Korean protesters during Sunday's Olympic torch relay.
The justice ministry has vowed to track down those Chinese students who kicked and beat demonstrators after widely circulated video clips of the clashes stirred anger.
It said convicted offenders may be deported. Around 300 people turned out to protest, mainly against Beijing's forced repatriation of North Korean refugees. They were vastly outnumbered by some 6,500 young Chinese shouting support for the Beijing Olympics.
South Korea delivered a message of "strong regret" to China through Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-Joon during his trip to Beijing on Wednesday.
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Beijing had said the Chinese supporters had merely been protecting the flame. But it conveyed its regrets to Seoul through Lee and called for leniency for the students involved.
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