Ex-President Kim kept off campus

Student protesters prevented former President Kim Young-Sam from entering the campus of Korea University where he was slated to deliver a lecture Friday. He was scheduled to speak on his personal experiences to an undergraduate class on presidential studies in the charge of Prof. Ham Seong-Deuk of the college of politics and economy from 11:30 a.m.

A group of some 150 students gathered in front of the school gate to obstruct the passage of his car. A president who brought about a major financial crisis in 1997 that led to the IMF bailout is in no position to give a lecture to them, the student activists said.

The ex-President insisted on delivering his lecture at a Korean university as his presentations were well received in foreign countries. Kim conducted a speaking tour of Harvard University and Harbin University after leaving office.

But the protesters formed a line arm-in-arm to cordon the campus off. Kim remained in the car, trying to persuade the students to disperse, but they refused to listen to him. He kept telling them that he was once elected President by an overwhelming majority unlike his predecessors, who assumed power in a military coup, and that it was preposterous for them to bar his visit to the university.