South Korean farmers rally against rice market opening
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-16 10:58

Thousands of South Korean farmers clashed with police in Seoul on Tuesday in a rally against the government's move to open the rice market wider, reported South Korean English newspaper The Korean Herald on Wednesday.

At least 80 farmers and 20 police officers were injured in the riot rally, the paper quoted local police as saying.

Wielding steel pipes and bamboo sticks, the protesters pushed back the police cordon in front of the National Assembly in central Seoul, as they attempted to break into the building. Riot police blocked them by using water cannons.

The scuffle erupted when about 10,000 farmers from across the nation gathered in front of the National Assembly, to block a parliamentary ratification of the rice import deal signed with nine countries, said the newspaper.

The South Korean legislature body is expected to vote on the bill on November 23.

"The government should establish clear countermeasures and fundamental measures to ensure the sustainable development of the local agricultural industry before it sends the bill to the Assembly," the (South) Korean Peasants League, which organized the protest, said in a statement.

Moon Gyeong-sik, chairman of the South Korean peasants organization, threatened to stage sporadic rallies across the country if the government defies their demands.

The coalition of eight farmers' unions already planned to hold a mass demonstration in Busan on Friday and in Seoul next Monday. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting is to be held on this Friday and Saturday.

Last year, South Korea agreed with nine rice-exporting countries to increase its import quota to 7.96 percent from the current 4 percent by 2014 and to permit up to 30 percent of imported rice to be sold directly to consumers by 2010.

Seoul has maintained that the agreement must be passed soon if South Korea is to meet its obligations.