Over two thousand South Korean protesters clashed with police on Saturday evening in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.

Demonstrators were protesting against the unilateral passage of the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement which was forced through by ruling party lawmakers on November 22nd. One local businessman acknowledged the inevitability of some form of free trade agreement, but said there must be some benefit for South Korean workers. Protesters called for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to resign following the deal’s ratification on Tuesday.

South Korean lawmakers had been wrangling over ratification of the free trade deal since the US Congress and President Barack Obama approved the deal last month. The pact is America’s biggest free trade agreement since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

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