Thousands march in South Korean anti-government protest

Tens of thousands protested against South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s labour and education policies on Saturday in one of the largest street rallies in recent years, prompting police to use water canons and barricades to stop the crowd.

About 70,000 and 130,000 protesters gathered in the capital, calling for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye. Tv footage showed Baek lying immobile as different demonstrators struggled to drag him away, as cops officers continued to fireside water cannons at them from atop cops officers buses.

“The government was fully prepared to guarantee a lawful and peaceful rally, but a few people came prepared with illegal equipment such as steel pipes and conducted a violent protest”, Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong said during a news conference, according to Reuters. “It’s hard to figure out exactly how many people participated as multiple rallies happened at once”.

Korea Peasants League secretary-general Cho Byung Ok said an elderly farmer, Baek Nam Gi, remained unconscious in hospital yesterday evening after being knocked down by a water cannon jet near the City Hall.

Park Geun-hye said in written answers to questions submitted by local and worldwide news agencies that “there is no reason not to hold an inter-Korean summit if a breakthrough comes in solving the North Korean nuclear issue”. Police created tight perimeters with their buses to block them.

Protesters tried to move a few of the buses by pulling ropes they tied near the vehicle’s wheels, and police, wearing helmets and body armour, responded by spraying tear gas at them.

Officers also fired water cannons from above a portable wall nearby to disperse marchers who were trying to advance.

Police did not say how many people turned up for the protest, but said the crowd was probably the largest at a demonstration in Seoul since May 2008, when about 100,000 people poured onto the streets to protest over the government’s decision to resume United States beef imports amid lingering mad cow fears.

Park asked member states of the G-20 countries to make aggressive efforts for a successful launch and implementation of the deal to combat climate change, according to Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea’s presidential office.

Park Chung-hee was accused of collaborating with the Japanese colonial forces in the early 20th century, and in 1961 he seized power in a military coup and ruled South Korea as the leader of a dictatorship until his assassination in 1979.