SOUTH KOREA: South Korean farmers and union workers clash with police during a rally in Seoul.

Record ID: 214634

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: South Korean farmers and union workers clash with police during a rally in Seoul.
  • Date: 4th December 2005
  • Summary: WIDE OF POLICE GETTING INTO POSITIONS TO STOP PROTESTERS
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7SX0VVO4W545AQNK8Z3NK0F8R
  • Story Text: Thousands of South Korean protesters clashed with police during a rally in Seoul on Sunday (December 4) to denounce the government for not providing laws to protect farmers and temporary workers. About 10,000 protesters marched towards downtown Seoul despite the cold weather, and wielded plastic and bamboo sticks at riot police. Police shot water cannons at the protesters. No arrests or injuries were reported yet. Union workers from the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), South Korea's second-largest and more militant union with about 700,000 members, and members of the Korean Peasants League, which represents hundreds of thousands of farmers all across the country, had decided to combine their rallies together. They demanded that laws that would secure stable conditions for temporary workers and protect farmers from a rice market that would eventually open up to imports be provided. Farmers also demanded for an apology for the death of a farmer who died after attending a rally two weeks ago. Protesters insist that the farmer was beaten by riot police at the rally and it caused his death. Farmers and farm activists have staged violent demonstrations in recent weeks demanding the withdrawal of the plan and a new deal that would protect the domestic rice market from imports. Several senior members of the minority Democratic Labour Party (DLP), whose constituencies include rural farming areas and the working classes, also participated in the rally. Last year, South Korea signed the agreement under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with nine rice-exporting countries to increase its quota of imported rice by 2014. In return, South Korea received an additional 10-year delay on implementing more extensive liberalisation measures for its rice market. The vocal farm group has said more than 1,500 of its members will travel to Hong Kong next month to disrupt a key WTO ministerial meeting.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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