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Violence marred the biggest candlelight vigils yet against opening the Korean market to U.S. beef over the weekend. Police estimate that over 40,000 people participated, while the organizers puts the number at 100,000.
The main participants shifted from middle and high school students to university students, office workers, and housewives. There were many more university student bodies and leftwing organizations than during the rallies that took place over the previous week. Some protesters went violent, breaking windows of police buses while marching toward the Cheong Wa Dae. Police were also more aggressive, turning water cannon on the rioters to disperse them and deploying special operations squads.
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Police take away a protester as they begin to forcibly disperse protesters rallying against the resumption of U.S. beef imports on Sunday. The demonstration started Saturday night and continued into Sunday morning. /Newsis
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On Sunday afternoon, about 3,500 demonstrators occupied 10 lanes of Sejongro and Sajikro near Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul in an attempt to march toward Cheong Wa Dae. Shouting slogans such as "Stop violent suppression of demonstrations," the demonstrators protested at forceful attempts by police to disperse them the previous night.
On Saturday afternoon, about 40,000 demonstrators had gathered in Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall to oppose imports of American beef and demand the government cancel its promulgation of sanitary conditions for U.S. beef imports. It was the largest number of protestors since candlelight vigils started on May 2. Some 29,000 occupied streets from 8:15 p.m. on Saturday and clashed with police officers in several locations in downtown Seoul for about 12 hours until 8 a.m. on Sunday.
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Police block street protesters rallying against the resumption of U.S. beef imports early Sunday morning. Authorities used water cannons to forcibly disperse protesters in the Hyoja-dong and Cheongun-dong areas near Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. /Newsis
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Police blocked the streets with buses to stop protestors marching toward the presidential office, but some attempted to climb over or push over the buses.
When the demonstrators came within about 1 km of Cheong Wa Dae, police fired water cannons and tear gas at them for the first time since the protests started. Around 5 a.m. on Sunday, 117 police commandoes tried to disperse the demonstrators, arresting 228 demonstrators -- 196 men and 32 women -- who offered violent resistance. This clashes left some 100 demonstrators and 41 police officers injured.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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