Police break up Daewoo Motor strike

Thousands of riot police stormed into Daewoo Motor’s Pupyong plant Monday to break up a sit-in protest by hundreds of unionized workers of the ailing automaker who waged a three-day campaign against massive layoffs.

A total of 4,200 police troops raided the automaker`s main plant in an industrial section of Inchon, southwest of Seoul, at about 5:54 p.m. and dispersed about 650 protesting unionists in just 10 minutes.

Police presented the company with court-issued warrants for the arrest of union leaders before the raid. They then used forklift trucks and excavators to remove barricades set up at each of the plant`s four entrances to enter the compound where workers were holed up.

Two police helicopters flew over the plant, using loudspeakers to urge striking workers to disband voluntarily. But sit-in participants did not go quietly, instead putting up stiff resistance by throwing firebombs and stones and setting fire to tents and used tires. But fire engines that arrived at the plant earlier extinguished the blaze and no serious damage was reported.

Park Joung-Gu jangkung@donga.com