Tens of thousands march in South Korea anti-gov't protest

[rooster59]

Tens of thousands march in South Korea anti-gov't protest

KIM TONG-HYUNG, Associated Press


SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Police fired tear gas and water cannons Saturday as they clashed with anti-government demonstrators who marched through Seoul in the largest protest in South Korea's capital in more than seven years, leaving a protester critically injured.

About 70,000 people marched from various locations in Seoul to an area near City Hall, according to police. The demonstration stretched into the night, and police detained at least a dozen people. It was not clear how many people were injured.

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.

Baek Nam-gi, a 69-year-old farmer, remained unconscious at a hospital after he fell down and hit the back of his head as police doused him with water cannons near City Hall, said Cho Byung-ok, secretary general of the Korea Peasants League, an activist group that represents farmers.

Television footage showed Baek lying motionless as other demonstrators struggled to drag him away, as police continued to fire water cannons at them from atop police buses.

Doctors told Baek's family that his condition was too fragile to attempt emergency surgery, Cho said. An official at Seoul National University hospital said she couldn't comment on Baek's condition due to privacy rules.

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 spray-painted 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 they could not immediately confirm the number of people injured in the clashes.

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 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 U.S. 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 state-issued history textbooks, which have not been written yet, would be politically driven and might 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 more than 40 people when 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 many police buses damaged.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-11-14

[Toadman]

Wow! What's up with that? I have quite a few S.Korean associates. I'll have to politely ask them what's going on back home.

What's going wrong in the world today?

It's so sad and wearying, isn't it?

[slerickson]

Corporitization, pollution, over crowding, diminished resources, exploitation in the name of free trade, etc. need I go on?

[CaptHaddock]

Encouraging to see the Koreans criticize their government legally and peacefully. That's why the Koreans have a democracy.

[elgordo38]

Wow! What's up with that? I have quite a few S.Korean associates. I'll have to politely ask them what's going on back home.

What's going wrong in the world today?

It's so sad and wearying, isn't it?

Whats going wrong in the world today well the obvious answer is everything. You only need to look at what happened in France yesterday.I do not condone their actions but you must consider the amount of innocent people being declared collateral damage and killed in airstrikes by the major powers in Syria. A Syrian life is worth the same as a French or American life period. Workers are under the gun so to speak especially by right wing parties and the present government in Korea is conservative. She is the daughter of a famous dictator and it looks like she is trying to polish up his legacy/image. This is the problem when you elect dynasty governments. The Bushes are another example. Politics never seems to attract good people only people that take big kickbacks from billionaires to do their bidding once elected. The problem today is that ordinary people who are being marginalized by these brutal billionaires and their political flunkies are no longer ignorant of this fact and are through social media aware at all times of the the brutality in the world today. Unlike years ago they are refusing to be herded in one direction but are starting to stand their ground. A politician's ratings are highest on election day after that its all downhill as is the mediocre job they do.

[keithathome]

Wouldn't happen in the North: ALL the people there just love Kim.