S.Koreans hold new rally:

Asia

Park

Blowing horns and banging on tambourines, thousands of South Koreans marched in Seoul on Saturday to protest the arrest of a labor union leader who may face a rarely used sedition charge over the eruption of violence at an earlier anti-government protest.

The demonstration was the latest in a series of mass protests in recent months of conservative President Park Geun-hye. She has been criticized for her increasingly harsh treatment of union members and dissidents resisting her drive to make labor markets more flexible.

The demonstrators, also carrying banners and handheld signs and shouting for Park to step down, marched through downtown streets as large groups of police officers moved along and kept them at close watch. The walk brought the demonstrators to an area near a hospital where a 69-year-old protester remains in a coma after being injured during a huge rally on Nov 14, when dozens were hurt in clashes with police. (AP)