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| Members of liberal civic groups demand police release the college students who were detained for allegedly breaking into the residence of U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris, in front of Namdaemun Police Station in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap |
Prosecutors said Sunday they have requested a Seoul court to issue arrest warrants for seven progressive college students on charges of breaking into the U.S. ambassador's residence.
Seventeen members of a progressive college student group used ladders to climb over the wall of the Habib House in Seoul on Friday afternoon.
The residence was vacant at that time, as Ambassador Harry Harris and his wife were away for a Cheong Wa Dae reception hosted by President Moon Jae-in.
The activists displayed banners reading "Harris leave this land," with two others having attempted to break into the compound. They were protesting Washington's call for Seoul to sharply increase its financial contribution to the presence of American troops in South Korea.
All 17 students were soon taken to police stations, and police sought arrest warrants for nine of them. After reviewing the results of a preliminary probe, prosecutors formally requested the court to permit the arrests of seven of them.
A prosecution official said, "It's difficult to reveal details related to the investigation," including the reason why investigators did not seek arrest warrants against the two trying to break into the compound. (Yonhap)
