South Korea braces for mass protests

South Korea was Friday bracing for another mass protest against US beef imports and other government policies, the latest in a series of demonstrations stretching back more than two months. Activists said the rallies planned for Saturday would draw a million people nationwide. Police declined to give an estimate and the government warned it would deal sternly with any violence. The candlelit rallies were originally called to protest against the supposed dangers of mad cow disease, but have become increasingly anti-government. The number of participants has fallen sharply since 100,000 people gathered in Seoul and 62,000 in provincial cities on June 10, according to police estimates. Rally organisers said the figures were much higher. Some protests have ended violently, with more than 200 hurt in battles between crowds and riot police early last Sunday. In bizarre scenes, the streets of the capital are lined with battered police buses and riot police guard some major buildings. ‘The government will respect all voices uttered within legitimate boundaries, but will sternly deal with any illegal acts,’ said Park Hyung-Joon, a senior aide to president Lee Myung-Bak. Park, in a radio interview, said authorities had tolerated rallies which blocked streets as long as they were peaceful. ‘But the use of violence won’t be tolerated any longer.’ Top police officers were meeting Friday to discuss how to handle the protests outside Seoul City Hall and elsewhere, a police spokesman said. ‘We will declare the people’s victory at Saturday’s rallies,’ an official of an umbrella group of activists, the People’s Association for Measures against Mad Cow Disease, told AFP. ‘We expect as many as one million people will show up nationwide,’ he said on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest. The police have raided offices of activists and arrested three. The rallies were sparked off by Seoul’s agreement in April to resume US beef imports, which were halted in 2003 after a US mad cow case. In response to the protests, the government went back to Washington to negotiate extra health safeguards and the meat is now on sale. Small-scale peaceful protests continued this week, with liberal Catholic priests, Buddhist monks and Protestant pastors joining in. Supporters of the conservative government say left-wing professional agitators have been taking over some rallies, a charge denied by the protest groups. ‘The beef issue is not the only source of public dissatisfaction,’ said Choi Jin, an analyst with the private Institute of Presidential Leadership. ‘It’s hard to predict when the protests will end.’ Policy failures due to inexperience, economic woes deepened by high oil prices and Lee’s alleged authoritarian style have also stoked public resentment, analysts say.