ASIA PACIFIC

Government in South Korea Faces Protests

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea — Thousands of South Koreans marched in Seoul for the second straight day on Saturday to protest government labor policies and the handling of a ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people a year ago.
Demonstrators supporting the relatives of ferry disaster victims gathered for a rally on the same downtown street where protesters violently clashed with the police last weekend, leaving dozens injured. Saturday’s rally ended peacefully without any reported injuries, said an official from the National Police Agency, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing agency rules.
Hundreds of people marched silently from several locations to participate in the evening rally, many of them wearing face masks and yellow scarfs and jackets, the color that has come to symbolize the plight of the families.
Waving candles and illuminated cellphones, the demonstrators chanted “Salvage the truth” and called for President Park Geun-hye to step down, criticizing her for her reluctance to accept a more thorough investigation into the sinking, before voluntarily dispersing.
They were joined by some of the estimated 40,000 unionized workers who had demonstrated in front of the Seoul City Hall hours earlier to denounce government policies that they fear will reduce wages, job security and retirement benefits for state employees, said Park Seong-shik, a spokesman for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
A large number of police officers closely watched the demonstrators, many wearing helmets and body armor and holding riot shields. Dozens of police buses were parked nearby, as were some vehicles that appeared to be equipped with water cannons.
South Korean police often use their vehicles to create tight perimeters to block protesters from advancing, as they did last weekend when more than 70 police buses were destroyed.