Live
Audio Only
Around 70,000 protesters took to the streets of Seoul on Saturday, protesting revised labor and education policies in one of largest anti-government demonstrations in years.
In an effort to contain the protests, security forces fired tear gas and water cannons, injuring at least 30 people.
Tens of thousands of people, dressed in plastic raincoats, marched through the South Korean capital. Many called for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye.
The massive rally was organized by labor, civic and farmers' groups, which are against proposed reforms to labor policies, as well as the decision to require middle and high schools to use only state-issued history textbooks in classes starting in 2017.
Labor groups, such as South Korea's second largest umbrella union, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), argue that if passed the proposed labor policies would lead to cuts in pensions and increase inequalities between full-time and contract workers.
RELATED: Fight for 15! Protests Held in 500 Cities Across the US
Under the proposed legislation, employers must grant contract workers longer contracts, which the KCTU says will discourage employers from hiring permanent workers.
"If lawmakers try to pass the (government's) bill that will make labor conditions worse. We will respond with a general strike, and that will probably be in early December,” KCTU President Han Sang-goon told local media outlets during a press conference on Saturday.
Saturday's demonstration was the biggest since 2008, when roughly 100,000 people marched in Seoul against resuming beef imports from the United States.
Newsletter
