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Hundreds Of South Korean Truckers Detained Over Violence

SEOUL (AFP)--More than 300 South Korean truckers and union activists were still being held for questioning Monday about a weekend protest that left more than 150 people injured, police said.

Police detained 457 people Saturday after the clash in the central city of Daejeon involving about 6,000 truckers and members of the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

Of them, 123 have been released while 334 are still being questioned, Ahn Jong-koo, a police spokesman in Daejeon, said.

"The protesters hurled rocks or wielded bamboo staves, injuring 104 policemen and damaging 99 police vehicles," Ahn said.

The confederation said more than 50 protesters were also injured.

Newspapers said the truckers displayed antigovernment slogans and streamers mourning the death of Park Jong-tae, a union leader who committed suicide in Daejeon on May 3.

Park, 33, had been wanted by police for leading illegal protests.

The clash came after the truckers voted to go on strike for better working conditions, wage rises and the reinstatement of dismissed union activists. They haven't yet announced when the stoppage will start.

A week-long strike by the truckers in June last year hit the trade-dependent economy hard, causing an estimated $7.2 billion of missed imports and exports.

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
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