70T S. Koreans join anti-gov’t. protest
SEOUL—Police fired tear gas and water cannons Saturday as they clashed with antigovernment demonstrators who marched through Seoul in what was believed to be the largest protest in South Korea’s capital in more than seven years.
About 70,000 protesters marched from various locations in Seoul to an area near City Hall, according to police. The demonstration stretched into the evening, and police detained at least a dozen people.
The marches, organized by labor, civic and farmers’ groups, brought together protesters with a diverse set of grievances against the government of conservative President Park Geun-hye, including her business-friendly labor policies and a decision to require middle and high schools to use only state-issued history textbooks starting in 2017.
Step down
Demonstrators, many of them masked, carried banners and chanted “Park Geun-hye, step down” and “No to layoffs” as they occupied a major downtown street. Some of them clashed with police, who created tight perimeters with their buses to block them.
Protesters tried to move some of the buses by pulling ropes they had tied to the vehicles, and police, wearing helmets and body armor, responded by firing tear gas and water cannons at them.
Police also fired water cannons from above a portable wall nearby to disperse marchers who were trying to advance. Some protesters fought back by hitting police officers camped on the top of the buses with poles. Others smashed the windows of the buses with sticks or spraypainted anti-government slogans on them.
Police detained at least 12 people for allegedly violent behavior, according to an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules. Police said it was likely some people had been injured in the clashes, but could not immediately confirm the number.
Clash
Earlier in the day, members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, an umbrella labor union, clashed with police who unsuccessfully tried to detain KCTU President Han Sang-goon during a news conference. A Seoul court had issued an arrest warrant for Han over a failed court appearance, after he was indicted for his involvement in organizing a May protest that turned violent.
“If lawmakers try to pass the (government’s) bill that will make labor conditions worse, we will respond with a general strike and that will probably be in early December,” said Han, moments before police moved in and forced him to flee inside a building as his colleagues blocked the officers.
Police said the crowd was probably the largest at a demonstration in Seoul since May 2008, when about 100,000 people poured onto the streets to protest the government’s decision to resume US beef imports amid lingering mad cow fears.