Jobless South Korean seeks sympathy with rhinos

SEOUL, June 5 (Reuters) A South Korean man upset at not being able to find a job protested his plight by climbing into a zoo pen with a pair of rhinoceroses.

Police and zoo officials said today that the man, identified only by his family name Lee, went to the zoo in the capital Seoul over the weekend and tried at first to draw attention to himself by breaking into an enclosure housing giraffes, Zookeepers prevented him from climbing the fence of that enclosure, but he broke free and scaled the fence of a pen housing a pair of rhinos known for having a mean streak, the officials said.

Lee spent only a few moments with the rhinos and climbed a tree in the enclosure where he remained for about four hours, shouting out to visitors about how he had lost his job and other bad breaks in life, they said.

The zookeepers moved the animals in separate pens, officials said, before police and firefighters placed mattresses under the tree and persuaded Lee to come down.

''I jumped into the cage because I've become desperate after not having found a job for such a long time,'' a police officer quoted Lee as saying.

Police questioned Lee and released him.

REUTERS SI HS1334