Application for a warrant for a KCTU rally... "Strict response" vs "causing conflict"

[Anchor]
Police have applied for arrest warrants for participants arrested over the weekend for assaulting police at a KCTU rally demanding the resignation of the regime.

The police are in a position to respond strictly to illegal activities, but the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions protested, saying the police caused a clash.

Reporter Bae Minhyuk's report.

[Reporter]
Clashes broke out between some participants and the police at the "First General Assembly for the Resignation of the Government" held near Seoul City Hall last weekend.

At that time, 11 participants were arrested on charges of using violence, such as pushing police officers by violating the police control line and refusing to comply with the police's order to disband.

The police applied for arrest warrants for six members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, who judged the charges to be serious, and the prosecution requested warrants for four of them.

In response to the claim that the police had cracked down hard, Police Commissioner Jo Ji-ho stressed that he had already ordered the dissolution three times and that it was difficult to agree if it was a hard crackdown to secure even the least passage for citizens to and from.

Regarding the criticism that the participants were injured in the process, 105 police were also injured, explaining that there were cases of fractures or ligaments ruptured.

[Jo Ji-ho / Director of National Police Agency (National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee): I can't agree on anything about inducing a collision, and the police are the ones who want to avoid it the most.]

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions condemned the police, calling for the immediate release of the arrested members.

He criticized the police for intentionally causing excessive friction, saying they would block the square with coercive public power.

[Yang Kyung-soo / Chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions: Police blocked access to the assembly hall and citizens' traffic, causing confusion and violence]

The police launched an internal investigation into seven people, including Chairman Yang, saying that the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and others appear to have planned illegal activities in advance.

In the midst of this, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced a "second general meeting to step down from the government" on the 20th.

I'm BAE MINHYUK of YTN.

a photographer
Design; Im Saetbyul