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Some 4,000 members of the Pan-national Committee to Deter the Expansion of U.S. Bases held a massive protest at the site for the new U.S. Forces Korea headquarters in Pyeongtaek on Sunday. Feared large-scale violence, however, was averted as protestors refrained from using lethal tools like steel pipes or bamboo sticks while police stopped short of full-scale suppression. The coalition comprises members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the Korean Federation of University Student Councils or Hanchongryon and the Democratic Labor Party.
Some 196 companies of riot police numbering 20,000 were mobilized to stop the protests, in which 36 protestors were taken into custody for throwing stones at police. Five people were taken to nearby hospitals after smaller clashes between police and protestors.
The Ministry of Defense on Sunday said it will embark on the geographic survey of the military site on Monday as well as a search for any historic relics in the ground and an environmental impact study this month, judging that with the illegal rallies over, the main obstacles to the move of USFK bases have been removed.
Meanwhile, Saturday saw rallies of altogether 45,000 members of the coalition in Seoul. They gathered in places like Yongsan near the Defense Ministry and converged on downtown Gwanghwamun around 7 p.m., blocking roads leading to Jongno, before 2,000 of them moved on to Hongik University late at night.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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