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More than 200 injured in SKorea beef protests
2008-06-29
SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean police clashed violently with protesters opposing US beef imports here Sunday, leaving more than 200 people injured, officials and witnesses said. Police fired water cannon and wielded batons to try to control protesters, who hit back with poles and steel pipes, smashing police bus windows and spraying street fire hoses. With rocks also hurled through the air, many of the injured suffered head wounds and were taken to hospitals in ambulances, according to witnesses. Protesters attempted to topple a police bus, and police discharged hand-held fire extinguishers to quell the violence. Seoul police reported they had arrested 55 protesters during the prolonged overnight clashes, in which 114 officers were injured, 15 of them seriously. "Some of our troops suffered serious bone fractures, with one of them sustaining a fractured skull," a police spokesman told AFP. Protest organisers claimed more than 100 citizens were hurt. "About 100 citizens were sent to hospitals," an unnamed protest leader told Yonhap news agency. But the organisers had no specific data on the injuries. The violence began late Saturday when police stopped thousands of protesters from marching to the presidential office after holding a rally which had been attended by about 15,000 people. Seoul's decision to resume the US beef imports has sparked mass demonstrations for weeks against the supposed dangers of mad cow disease and against government policies in general. After the street protests first erupted, Seoul went back to Washington to secure extra safeguards -- though both governments insist the meat is safe. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a visit to Seoul Saturday, urged South Koreans to trust official assurances that US beef is safe. Despite the extra safeguards, South Korean protests have intensified since Seoul's formal resuming of the imports on Thursday. Unionists threaten to block the release of US beef to the market. Seoul signed the controversial deal in April to resume the imports, suspended in 2003 after a US mad cow case, in hopes of pushing forward with a wider free trade agreement (FTA). The FTA was signed last year but must be ratified by the legislatures of both countries. The South Korean government on Sunday issued a statement warning against further street protests. "The way people demonstrate is getting radical and violent day by day," Justice Minister Kim Kyung-Han told a televised news conference, accompanied by labor and other security-related ministers. "The government has no other choice but to take strong countermeasures, including the spraying of tear-gas solution." The minister warned the authorities would arrest violent protesters and file a lawsuit against vandals who inflicted damage to police vehicles or equipment. At least 100,000 protesters turned out on June 10. Rallies have been much smaller recently but violence has been more frequent. US exporters have now agreed not to send meat from cattle older than 30 months, seen as more at risk of the disease. But opponents say safeguards are still inadequate with a newspaper survey showing more than six out of 10 South Koreans are still concerned about health risks.
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