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Protesting S. Korean lawmakers scuffle with guards
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-03 20:12 SEOUL -- South Korean opposition lawmakers and security guards scuffled Saturday as authorities tried to clear the legislators from parliament, where they have been camped out for nine days in a standoff with President Lee Myung-bak's ruling party.
Lawmakers from the Democratic Party have been staging a sit-in at the National Assembly since December 26 in a bid to thwart conservatives from ramming through dozens of measures - including ratification of a free trade pact with the US - before the session ends. Scores of guards tried to force the lawmakers to leave Saturday, touching off a scuffle, said Cho Jeong-sik, a spokesman for the Democrats. One legislator was taken to a nearby hospital for a minor injury and another lawmaker's glasses were broken.
Footage showed opposition officials being frog-marched out of the South Korean parliament building. Opposition officials also fought with police deployed to stand guard outside the National Assembly complex, according to the Yonhap news agency. The speaker of parliament threatened last week to send in guards to end to the sit-in protest that has paralyzed parliament. The ruling Grand National Party, which has 172 seats in the 299-seat assembly compared to the Democrats' 82, wants to pass some 80 bills before the current session ends January 8 - including the free trade pact signed last year. The opposition says the pact should not be approved until Lee's government provides better measures to protect farmers and others who are expected to suffer from a surge in imports from the US. Violence is not uncommon at South Korea's National Assembly. Last month, opposition lawmakers used sledgehammers to pound their way into a committee room where ruling party lawmakers were meeting to introduce the bill to ratify the US free trade pact. |
