Bloodied South Koreans protest US trade deal

SEOUL - Tens of thousands of South Koreans clashed with police firing water cannons on the rain-soaked streets of central Seoul yesterday to protest against bilateral free trade talks with the United States.

South Korea and the United States kicked off a second round of talks on a free trade pact on Monday in Seoul. Protesters say a pact would hurt the country's farmers and workers. South Korean and US negotiators said it would be a "win-win" deal.

An estimated 30,000 protesters gathered in torrential rain that hit the capital, including a group that seized the roof of a major post office and unfurled a banner reading: "Let's Break Through the Oppression of Capitalism".

Rescue workers inflated large orange cushions at the base of the building in case anyone fell off.

Some 15,700 riot police were dispatched to the scene and about 100 people were taken into custody for fighting, a police official said.

"Farmers are furious because the government entered into a one-sided deal with the United States without having discussions with us," one farmer told Reuters TV.

Despite the protest, recent polls show a majority of South Koreans support the deal.

Protesters have gathered since Monday at the venue where South Korean and US negotiators are holding five days of talks.

Dubbed KORUS, the pact would be the biggest US free-trade deal since NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 1994.

South Korea was the world's 11th-largest economy in 2005, according to the World Bank, and the seventh-largest US trading partner. Two-way trade in goods last year totalled about US$72 billion.

Both sides said they had made good progress in their first round of talks last month in Washington.

Areas of contention include agriculture, automobiles and pharmaceuticals.

Negotiators are pushing for a deal by January so the US Congress can vote on it before the expiry of White House authority to negotiate trade agreements that cannot be amended. That authority runs out in mid-2007.

- REUTERS