Lawmakers hurt in scuffle with security guards

Seoul: South Korean opposition lawmakers scuffled with security personnel yesterday as guards tried to end their blockade of the assembly that has paralysed parliament and delayed voting on a US trade deal and reform bills.

The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) has been thwarted in its attempt to push through the trade deal, sweeping tax cuts and plans to privatise state firms by opposition lawmakers who have blockaded the door to the main parliament chamber.

More than 200 parliament security guards stormed the assembly building rotunda where opposition lawmakers have camped out and a large scuffle broke out, sending some MPs and guards to hospital for treatment for minor injuries.

The main opposition Democratic Party has called conservative President Lee Myung-bak and his GNP's reform bills "evil" and pledged to block them. It called yesterday's action by parliament security, which was ordered by its Speaker, illegal.

The latest attempt to strike a deal to end the impasse broke down on Friday, when a meeting of GNP and opposition leaders ended in a dispute over the participation of a minor opposition party.

The GNP has outlined 85 bills it wants to pass that also include measures to ease bank ownership rules.