News In Brief
| Seoul
1,730 get amnesty in South Korea
A special amnesty for 1,730 people, including 714 former political prisoners whose civil rights were reinstated by the measure, becomes effective today, the eve of the 36th anniversary of the establishment of the republic. It is the 17th amnesty decreed by President Chun Doo Hwan since he became president in August 1980.
Meanwhile, six hijackers who forced a jetliner from China to South Korea in May 1983 were freed from prison yesterday and immediately left for Taiwan to seek asylum. Officially, they were ''forcibly expelled,'' because their entry into South Korea was not legitimate. Several hundred South Koreans, including noted politicians and civic leaders, have signed a petition to the government seeking clemency for the hijackers, whom they called fighters against communism.
