SEOUL • More than 50,000 riot police mobilised across South Korea yesterday to enforce a ban on mass protests against a proposed US free trade deal, after the government vowed zero tolerance for violent rallies.
Police said officers set up 1,252 checkpoints leading to highways, bus terminals and railway stations.
Only around 6,000 farmers, workers and other activists managed to sneak through security cordons to hold rallies in Seoul and six other cities, they said.
The Korean Alliance Against the Korea-US FTA, a coalition of civic groups, said more than 100,000 had tried to take part in street demonstrations. "But many protesters failed to reach designated places due to tough police action," a coalition spokesman said, estimating the number of protesters at 15,000 nationwide.
"Scuffles erupted when police blocked vehicles carrying protesters but there were no injuries," said National Police Agency spokesman Chung Yoon-Chung.
About 2,000 riot police armed with clubs formed a human barricade with shields and surrounded hundreds of slogan-chanting farmers who gathered on the plaza of the main railway station in Seoul.
"No to Korea-US FTA!," the farmers shouted as they were driven into the railway station.
Near the office of President Roh Moo-Hyun, 1,000 riot police surrounded around 200 activists after blocking their rally.
Thousands of other officers guarded major intersections and rally sites in the center of the capital and blocked a march by about 1,500 demonstrators. Some protesters kicked and punched riot police.
The proposed free trade agreement with the United States is deeply unpopular with farmers who say it will kill off their traditional lifestyle, as well as with other workers who fear for their jobs.
On November 22 about 70,000 people rallied in Seoul and several other locations, triggering clashes with riot police in some places that left 63 people injured.
Police secured arrest warrants on Tuesday for 42 activists after the left-leaning government launched a crackdown on street violence.
Separately, union officials said 113,600 workers joined a four-hour strike at 185 worksites, including the country's largest carmaker Hyundai Motor, to protest against labour law reforms and the free trade pact. The labour ministry put the number at 36,000.