South Korean activists yesterday promised to draw one million protesters nationwide in the biggest anti-US beef rallies so far, warning they would use young Christians as “human shields” against riot police.
Rallies in Seoul and several other cities were due to start at 5pm as campaigners bid to keep alive a two-month series of sometimes violent protests which have piled pressure on President Lee Myung-bak’s new government.
Organizers said half-a-million people would gather in Seoul alone, including religious leaders, workers, activists and opposition politicians.
Police said they expected some 35,000 protesters, adding they would deploy some 20,000 riot police to prevent any violence.
An umbrella grouping of activists, the People’s Association for Measures against Mad Cow Disease, called for protesters to bring their children and dogs.
At least 1,000 people, including young Christians, will serve as “human shields” to separate the protesters from riot police, it said.
“The Candlelit Culture Festival will be carried out peacefully,” the group said in a statement.
“In order to prevent any violent clashes with riot police, religious leaders, leading activists and parliament members will lead the march,” it added.
Protesters have previously clashed with police, with more than 200 people hurt in running battles last Sunday.
The rallies were sparked by Seoul’s agreement in April to resume US beef imports, which were halted in 2003 after a US mad cow case, as it struggles to ratify a free-trade pact with Washington.
In response to the protests, the government went back to Washington to negotiate extra health safeguards and the meat is now on sale.
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 organizers put the figures much higher.
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.
Analysts say beef is not the only source of public dissatisfaction. Policy failures due to inexperience, economic woes deepened by high oil prices and Lee’s alleged authoritarian style have also stoked resentment, they say.
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