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11.29, 2nd Central Protest Day

While yesterday "Police said .. (that) they have sought arrest warrants for 42 farm leaders in connection with violent street demonstrations last week..." (Yonhap) the "entire" S.K. anti-capitalist movement is preparing for today's 2nd central protest day against the U.S.-ROK FTA.

But also the S.K. national suppression machinery, i.e. nearly all units of the riot cops, are preparing for the event (for its crackdown?!!):

Police prepare to curb ‘illegal' rally attempt (JoongAng Ilbo)
 

Violence between riot police and protesters could be in the offing today, with the Korean Alliance against KorUs Free Trade Agreement vowing to go ahead with protest rallies for which permits have been denied and the police vowing to disperse protesters who gather.
 
During a conference call with all provincial police heads yesterday, the National Police Agency agreed to deploy all available police to rally sites named by the organizer and attempt to break up the demonstrators before they coalesce.
 
Kim Sung-ho, the justice minister, said yesterday that urban rallies by organizations with a history of violent protests are not allowed in principle. Police notified the anti-trade alliance yesterday that their rally permits had been denied, but the group told a press conference yesterday that it would not cancel its "peaceful protest."

The police estimate that 20,000 farmers and protesters plan to converge in Seoul, with smaller demonstrations planned in other cities. The authorities said they would mobilize all 400 riot police units around the nation, some 50,000 men, for the expected confrontation today. They plan, they said, to block highways leading to major cities.

The strike-prone Confederation of Trade Unions said that it had called a three-day general strike today to coincide with the anti-trade rallies...

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200611/29/200611290010061509900090409041.html

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Here the "official" schedule of the anti-FTA movement:

4. 한미 FTA 저지 범국민촛불문화제  
 
시간: 2006-11-29 오후 08:00:00 ∼  
 
- 장소: 광화문
 

3. 한미FTA 저지 2차 범국민총궐기 대회  
 
시간: 2006-11-29 오후 04:00:00    
 
- 장소: 서울시청 앞 광장

- 본집회 이후 광화문까지 행진 
 

2. 한미FTA 반대 민주노총 집회  
 
시간: 2006-11-29 오후 03:00:00    
 
- 장소: 청와대 인근 국민은행 청운동 지점

- 민주노총 집회 이후 4시 본대회로 집결
 

1. 한미FTA 반대 농대위 집회  
 
시간: 2006-11-29 오후 02:00:00    
 
- 장소: 서울역

- 농대위 집회 이후 4시 본대회로 집결

http://www.nofta.or.kr

*****

Korea Herald is writing following about today's planned events:

Demonstrators defy protest ban 
 
 
A head-on collision is anticipated today between police and the nation's farmers and anti-FTA activists who plan to go ahead with a second massive rally despite warnings from state authorities.

With about 5,000 protesters gathering in central Seoul, large anti-FTA demonstrations will be held in seven other provincial cities including Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Jeju, according to statements from the Korea Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA.

Farmers from Chungcheong, Gangwon and other rural provinces will be joining the rally in Seoul.
 

"As the constitution guarantees the right to hold peaceful rallies, we have decided to go ahead with our second protest despite police warnings," the alliance said in a press conference yesterday. "Although we plan to protest peacefully, we will fight back if the police clamp down on us without a justifiable reason."
 

As a coalition of about 300 anti-FTA civic groups, the alliance has been banned from staging further rallies after last week's nationwide protests which caused turmoil in some regions.
 

Over 73,000 farmers, workers and activists collided with riot police in 13 cities in one of the most violent protests in recent years...

Pledging a peaceful demonstration this time, the alliance requested the police to permit its second rally, but their request was turned down. Despite the rejection, activists are also planning even more protests on Dec. 6, as Seoul and Washington prepare to open the fifth round of formal FTA talks.
 

After declaring a "zero tolerance" policy towards violent rallies, the government reaffirmed that it will take harsh measures should the alliance disobey its restrictions.
 

"We will disallow any rallies by activist groups with past records of violence," Justice Minister Kim Sung-ho said in a radio interview yesterday, indicating that the government will take suppressive action not only against anti-FTA protests but all other potentially violent rallies.
 

"While fully securing the right to hold peaceful demonstrations, the government will use all possible measures through criminal charges, indemnity for damages and disciplinary steps to punish leaders and active participants," he added. "I have asked the prosecution to act following the 'zero tolerance' principle."
 

But Kim said he was against the idea of introducing a stricter permit system for demonstrations.
 

"As a democratic country, Korea should still guarantee the right for collective action - but only if it does not harm the public welfare," he said.
 

State police have already summoned 170 activists involved in last week's violent rallies. Since 163 of those protesters failed to show up, the police are planning to request arrest warrants.
 

The police also raided regional offices of the alliance in Daejeon, Daegu, Gangwon and North Gyeongsang - where the most violent rallies were held - and said officers had secured evidence that protesters were acting under specific orders.
 

The evidence shows that the act of breaking into regional government offices and setting fires on the streets were intentionally planned before the protest, the police said.
 

But the alliance emphasized that last week's violence was purely "accidental."
 

"Violent collisions took place because some governors and mayors had failed to earnestly answer the protesters' questions during the demonstrations. It is only natural that farmers in rural regions are more concerned and enraged about the FTA issue," it said.
 

"Instead of taking coercive measures, the government should try to analyze the reason why protesters became so violent."...
 

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/11/29/200611290015.asp