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Identified as Huh (56), the man is a member of the taxi union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. He doused himself in thinner in an alley some 130 m from the front gate of the Grand Hyatt Seoul Hotel at 3:55 p.m. on Sunday and set himself while shouting, "Stop the FTA negotiations." According to witnesses, Huh poured thinner from a 1.5ℓ water bottle and set himself ablaze with a lighter. Police standing nearby put out the flames with two portable fire extinguishers right away.

Protesters participate in an anti-FTA rally in front of the venue for free-trade agreement between Korea and the U.S. in Seoul on Sunday./AP

Only some 20 meters away, 160 members of the Korean Alliance Against KorUS FTA were holding a rally and press call. Huh sustained third-degree burns all over his body and was moved to the Hallym Medical Center for treatment but is in serious condition.

Meanwhile, protesters took to the streets in Seoul and tried to enter Choeng Wa Dae in protest against the FTA. Thousands of members of the alliance, the KCTU and Democratic Labor Party gathered and held candlelight vigils at Seoul Plaza on Sunday evening as last-minute negotiations continued. After the vigil ended around 9:40 p.m., protesters marched to Euljiro, where their numbers swelled to some 2,000 but were stopped from advancing on Cheong Wa Dae near the Gyeongbok Palace. After a 20-minute standoff, the protestors moved on to Gwanghwamun, but some staged sit-in demonstrations in an 50 m away from Cheong Wa Dae.

Various interest groups including pharmaceutical, copyright and financial groups held a press conferences to urge government to stop FTA talks, and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement staged a performance in protests against imports of U.S. beef. The alliance at a press conference accused President Roh Moo-hyun of being “obsessed with the FTA while half of the Korean people oppose it."

(englishnews@chosun.com )