Asia > Eastern Asia > South Korea > Tens of thousands march in South Korea anti-government protest.

South Korea: Tens of thousands march in South Korea anti-government protest.

2015/11/15

Police fired tear gas and water cannons Saturday as they clashed with anti-government demonstrators who marched through Seoul in what was believed to be the major turmoil in South Korea's capital in additional than seven years.

About 80,000 people were expected to turn up for the downtown rallies that stretched into the evening, according to an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who didn't want to be named, citing office rules.

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, inclunding her business-friendly labor policies and a decision to require middle and high schools to use only national-issued history textbooks starting in 2017.

Demonstrators, a lot of 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 as well 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 attacked the buses with sticks and rocks, or spray-painted anti-government slogans on them.

Police said it was likely some people had been injured in the clashes, but could not instantly confirm the number.

Before 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, next he was indicted for his involvement in organizing a May turmoil 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 did not instantly say how a lot of people turned up for the turmoil, but said the crowd was probably the major at a demonstration in Seoul since May 2008, at the same time as about 100,000 people poured onto the streets to turmoil the government's decision to resume US beef imports amid lingering mad cow fears.

Labor groups have been denouncing government attempts to change labor laws to allow larger freedom for companies in laying off workers, which policymakers say would be critical in improving a bleak job market for young people.

Critics say that the national-issued history textbooks, which have not been written from presently on, would be politically driven and may attempt to whitewash the brutal dictatorships that preceded South Korea's bloody transition toward democracy in the 1980s.

President Park is the daughter of slain military dictator Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea in the 1960s and '70s, and whose legacy as a successful economic strategist is marred by records of severe oppression.

In May, South Korean police detained additional than 40 people at the same time as protests over the government's labor policies and the handling of a year-old ferry disaster spiraled into violence, leaving several demonstrators and police injured and a lot of police buses damaged.

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