Anti-ASEM NGO protestors clash with police

Anti-ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) protestors clashed with police in the Kangnam district near the site of the biennial summit of Asian and European leaders as the conference opened for a two-day run Friday.

The demonstrators were led by members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, or ¡°Minju Nochong,¡± and Korean Federation of University Students Associations, or ¡°Hanchongnyon.¡¯¡¯ In particular, a rally in front of the Olympic Park Peace Gate was attended by 30 foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Some 2,600 unionized workers and students from the two organizations occupied two lanes at the Bang Bang Intersection in Seocho-ku, Seoul from about 10.15 a.m. and held a rally to oppose the ASEM summit. They also demanded during the rally that working hours be shortened and discrimination against irregular workers be eliminated.

They claimed that ASEM, which was created to overcome U.S. hegemony, has been following in the footsteps of new U.S. liberalism, destroying the lives of laborers and people in third world countries for the sake of capitalist gains.

They marched through the streets for about 1 kilometer to Kangnam Station on the No. 2 Subway Line, where they occupied the street to stage violent demonstrations, wielding wooden sticks and throwing stones at police troops. Some 10 demonstrators and policemen were injured.

They staged a sit-in rally on the two lanes in front of the subway station, chanting slogans against the ASEM summit and causing about two hours of severe traffic confusion in the area.

Earlier, sixteen members of the ¡°people¡¯s rally committee,¡± including Dan Byong-Ho, chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, scuffled with riot police in front of Samsung Subway Station near the conference site while attempting to enter the ASEM conference to deliver a letter of protest to the foreign heads of state participating in the summit.

In the afternoon, some 9,000 workers and students held an assembly marking the ¡°Day of Seoul Action¡± opposing ASEM-promoted new liberalism in front of the Olympic Park Peace Gate in Songpa-ku, southeastern Seoul. Some 30 foreign NGO delegates also attended the event. A representative of the French International Labor Group said in a speech that the people of the world have to crush the new liberalism, which threatens their survival, by firmly uniting.

The participants adopted a six-point Seoul Declaration that called for an immediate suspension of discussion on the liberalization of trade and investment within the ASEM, among other things. After the assembly, at about 4:30 p.m., they tried to march toward the ASEM conference site, but were blocked by riot police.

Lee Wan-Bae roryrery@donga.com