Police block activists’ drive-thru protest in southern Seoul on Dec. 26, 2020. They rallied to highlight their demand for legislation toughening punishment for companies in case of serious industrial accidents and other pro-labor measures. Police banned their demonstration due to concern over the new coronavirus. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Progressive activists went ahead with “drive-thru” rallies for labor rights in Seoul on Saturday, defying a police ban amid surging coronavirus infections.
More than 200 vehicles participated in the parades demanding legislation for tougher punishment of companies over serious industrial accidents and legal grounds to prohibit the firing of irregular workers.
The protest was organized by a coalition of labor and civic groups.
They began marching from three different locations in Seoul, while canceling the parade from near the Federation of Korean Industries, a business lobby, in southern Seoul, organizers said in a news conference.
They planned to drive past the Seoul labor agency en route to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
Seoul city government and the police banned the gathering over coronavirus fears. Police set up a wall with buses and blocked the parades.
South Korea recorded an all-time high of 1,241 COVID-19 cases on Friday and 1,132 on Saturday.
(Yonhap)
