[Ip-health] Bloomberg: S Korea Deploys 100,000 Police Against FTA Protesters

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acLKCZA9mYXE&refer=

S. Korea Deploys 100,000 Police Against Protesters (Update2)

July 12 (Bloomberg) -- The South Korean government deployed 100,000
police officers in downtown Seoul today as thousands of workers
demonstrated against trade negotiations with the U.S.

About 30,000 protesters clashed with 15,700 riot police in front of the
Seoul City Hall at 5 p.m. local time, authorities said. Police fired
water cannons trying to disperse the crowd who retaliated by shaking
police buses that had been set up as barricades. Central Seoul faces
severe traffic jams because of the protests and torrential rain.

The demonstrations came mid-way through talks in the city that are the
second round of negotiations between the U.S. and South Korea for a $29
billion free-trade agreement. An evening media briefing by Ambassador
Kim Jong Hoon, South Korea's chief negotiator, was postponed until tomorrow.

The U.S. wants South Korea to open its rice market and expand access to
the auto and pharmaceutical industries, while South Korea wants rice
excluded from the accord. The Korean Alliance Against Korea-U.S. FTA had
called for a 100,000-strong march in the capital. As darkness fell, riot
police lined the barricaded roads around the presidential Blue House.

Earlier in the day, members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions,
decked in rain coats against the rain, took over the roof of the Dong-a
Ilbo newspaper's Ilmin Newspaper Museum at a central downtown
intersection. They draped the building with banners calling for an end
to trade negotiations with the U.S. and equal rights for temporary workers.

Unions on Strike

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which claims 63,000 members at
major companies such as Hyundai Motor Co., said its members will be on
strike today. It encouraged its members to join the demonstration.

The Ministry of Labor said about 74,000 workers had joined the one-day
strike, with members of the less militant labor group Federation of
Korean Trade Unions also participating.

``We are sick of the government's propaganda that the free- trade
agreement with the U.S. is the only way forward,'' Kim Jin In, the
Alliance's spokesman, said before the rally began. ``We plan to show our
strength during today's rally, be there rain or shine.''

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler and Korea's Kim are
leading the talks. They hope to reach an agreement by year's end so it
can be ratified before President George W. Bush's trade authority expires.