Walter, the victim, said one of the young men then started abusing him at him in English, to the point where they almost came to blows. But a university student who was passing dissuaded his assailant. He asked if Walter and his friends were American but added, "Even if you tell them that you aren't, they won't believe you," Walter said. The student advised them to cross over to the other side of the street.

A riot police unit dispatched to protests against Korea-U.S. free trade talks in Gwanghwamun, Seoul on Wednesday.

Walter is not alone. Jerry, 32-year-old Canadian who has lived in Korea for eight years, says he has also encountered the force of Korean protest. When he first came to Korea he found the spectacle of the demonstrations fascinating and even mimicked some of the chants to learn the language.

In 2002, Jerry saw his first candlelight vigil in Gwanghwamun and thought it was beautiful. He had been filming the gathering for a while when all of the sudden a few of the protesters came up to him and shouted, "Go back to America" and tried to snatch his camcorder. Since then, he decided to steer clear of protesting Koreans. He said while the capital has changed a lot in the eight years he has been here, the protests haven’t. Nora, an English teacher from Britain, says Koreans are truly "street-loving" people. She recalls coming to Gwanghwamun in June to cheer Korea in the World Cup alongside millions of Koreans that turned out, but demonstrations are a different story. Nora says she hates them because protesters are not interested in persuading people but instead bark furiously at everyone in the vicinity.

Protesters tussle with riot police during a rally against a free trade agreement with the U.S. in font of Shilla Hotel in Seoul on Wednesday.

Chung (48) works as a guide for Japanese tourists. On Wednesday, her schedule should have been a breeze: at 1:30 p.m. she was to load a group of 25 Japanese tourists and lead them to a hotel in Myeongdong, a process that is normally over by three. But due to the protests, the road in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts was blocked. Having no other choice, she decided to take the subway and finally arrived at the hotel at 4:40 p.m.

"After the two hours we wasted on the road, there were a lot of 'this is the worst trip ever' complaints," she says. "Even though I knew that there was a demonstration, there was nothing I could say except 'let's take the subway.’" For those with only a little time to spend in Korea, the nation's love of protesting would have been a lasting image. Sisuko Nogami, who is in Korea for a four-day vacation, says she turned on the TV on Wednesday and it kept showing people fighting with the police. She has the bewildered look of someone as yet unused to what is an everyday sight in Seoul.

The governments of other countries take a dim view of Korea's penchant for protests. Travel information from Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs says, "Demonstrations and strikes occur almost incessantly in Seoul. Political, labor and student protests and marches can quickly turn violent." The website of Australia's Foreign Ministry warns, "You should avoid the frequent protests and demonstrations which occur throughout Korea as they may become violent."

(englishnews@chosun.com )