Thousands of protesters voice opposition to FTA amid bolstered police presence
Yonhap News 2007/01/16
Thousands of protesters voice opposition to FTA amid bolstered police presence
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) — Thousands of farmers, workers and progressive lawmakers gathered Tuesday afternoon in downtown Seoul to protest ongoing free trade talks between South Korea and the United States, threatening to march to the site of the negotiations despite police warnings.
The protesters chanted anti-globalization songs and said that a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries would crush their livelihoods. Police put the number at 3,600 and organizers at 8,000.
"Concluding this pact would mean relinquishing our economic sovereignty completely to the U.S.," said Moon Seong-hyeon, head of the minor Democractic Labor Party (DLP), in a speech to the gathering. "The more powerful U.S. will eat the common and vulnerable people of our nation alive."
Nine legislators from the DLP went on a hunger strike Monday, vowing to stay on it until the negotiators stopped their FTA talks.
The rally, organized by the Korean Alliance against the Korea-U.S. FTA and joined by supporters from across the country, was skirted by 1,500 riot police deployed to keep the protest from turning violent.
The police have openly warned that it would sternly deal with the protesters’ march to the hotel where the negotiators are holding their FTA talks for a second day. The plush Shilla Hotel is about 3 kilometers south of the rally site.
"We will try to detour the protesters in the middle of their march to the hotel and put an end to it there," Nam Ki-moon, a police officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, told Yonhap News Agency.
Nam said the police are also weary of possibilities that the protesters may scatter intentionally during their march and regroup in front of the hotel to fool the police blockage.
The South Korean government has deployed 15,000 riot police nationwide to shield the talks against massive protests. About 1,500 of them have been stationed around the Shilla Hotel.
Last November, violent anti-FTA demonstrations organized by the Korean Alliance left 63 people injured, including 35 police officers, and caused heavy property damage, according to police.
South Korea is split over the issue of removing trade barriers with the U.S. Farmers, laborers and anti-globalization activists have vehemently opposed such talks, saying an FTA with the economic behemoth would mercilessly expose their livelihoods to U.S. capital with no protection. Conservative groups and companies have called for an early conclusion of the pact, insisting it would expand bilateral trade and lead to an increase in much-needed jobs.
