From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Seoul Activists Burn U.S. Flag By SANG-HUN CHOE .c The Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Activists burned an American flag and the effigy of a U.S. missile Saturday to protest Washington's plan to build a missile defense system, which they say is hurting stability on the divided Korean peninsula. Dozens of students later hurled garbage and brandished wooden sticks at riot police in sporadic street clashes. Police fought back with plastic shields and batons. A mob of demonstrators stomped on a policeman. But no serious injuries were reported. At least one student was hauled off by police for questioning. Traffic was blocked for hours. About 2,000 students, labor activists and civic group members marched in downtown Seoul, demanding a better social welfare system and protesting layoffs amid government-pushed corporate restructuring. ``We oppose (President) Kim Dae-jung, who is ruining the lives of workers,'' they chanted. Shoving matches first erupted when police confiscated an effigy of President Kim that workers had intended to burn. The protesters included activists who oppose the Bush administration's missile defense program, saying it was jeopardizing reconciliation on the divided Korean peninsula. The communist North, along with Russia and China, vehemently opposes the U.S. missile shield project. ``Let's repel the MD (missile defense) and advance national reunification,'' the protesters chanted. They set fire to a large U.S. flag and a tall effigy of an American missile, together with a photograph of President Bush, who arrived in Slovenia on Saturday for a first-time meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting was expected to focus on the missile defense plan. Also Saturday, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions vowed to step up its struggle to win wage increases and fight the government's corporate restructuring that it says is causing mass layoffs. The threat came after the government decided Friday to arrest the confederation's leadership, accusing them of organizing illegal strikes at the nation's metal, chemical, aviation and hospital industries. Operations at Asiana Airlines, South Korea's second-largest airline, remained crippled for a fifth straight day as union members continued their strike Saturday. After overnight talks failed to resolve wage disputes with the union, the airline canceled 34 of its 69 scheduled international flights and 173 of 217 domestic flights on Saturday. U.S. officials say they need a new missile defense system to protect U.S. territory and their allies from missile threats from such rogue states as North Korea. AP-NY-06-16-01 0823EDT _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
