Click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup – June 9, 1988 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
Another day, another riot in Seoul, this June 9th in 1988. Students broke out of Youngsan University after a day-long siege with police over their attempts to leave the university to protest the South Korean government‘s refusal to allow them to demonstrate on the border of North and South Korea. The aim was to attempt a dialogue with students from North Korea, who had assembled on the border to discuss reunification. In what was termed as “ritualistic violence”, Police lobbed teargas and students lobbed gasoline bombs. South Korea was so nervous about the students getting together they amassed some 50,000 troops near the de-militarized zone just to keep the students away.
Meanwhile, officials in Beijing warned Americans living and working in China to be on the lookout for terrorist attacks directed towards them over the coming days. Long thought the safest place for Americans to be outside the U.S., the warnings came as a surprise, but as officials pointed out, the warnings were real. And since China had relations with Libya, Iran and a spate of otherwise hostile-to-the-U.S.countries, the safest place to be was back on home turf.
More than real was a mortar attack on the residence of U.S. Ambassador Alexander Watson in Lima Peru. One mortar shell hit the roof but damage was slight, and no injuries. Still . . .
Election season was in full swing as Democratic Presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis looked like a shoe-in to get the nod for the race to the White House. The Dukakis bandwagon was filling up with endorsements coming in, and even Mario Cuomo coyly endorsed the Massachusetts Governor.
The House killed a proposed bill to extend Medicare for the long-term chronically ill. It was a bitter disappointment to Senator Claude Pepper, who authored it and gave an impassioned appeal for its passing. But influential forces balked at the $30 billion price tag and the bill went to defeat 242-169.
And that’s a sample of what went on this rather frenetic June 9th in 1988 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup.
