Anti-FTA protester sets himself ablaze

A taxi driver set himself ablaze yesterday in protest against Korea-U.S. free trade talks outside the hotel where the negotiations were taking place. Korean and American negotiators were conducting last-minute talks to finalize the deal.

Heo Se-ok, 56, a member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Democratic Labor Party, dumped l.5 liters of a flammable liquid on his body and set himself on fire with a cigarette lighter at 3:55 p.m. on the road 20 meters away from the Grand Hyatt Hotel, witnesses said.

Policemen extinguished the fire immediately and sent him to a nearby hospital.

He suffered third-degree burns over his entire body and was in critical condition last night, police said.

Witnesses said he was shouting "Stop the Korea-U.S. FTA" while he was engulfed in flames.

Demonstrators stage a candlelight vigil in front of Seoul City Hall last night in protest against a Korea-U.S. free trade pact.

In a news conference later in the day, the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S FTA, a coalition of civic groups, unveiled a one-page letter of will that he left at his home. The letter reads "I oppose the government's reckless push for the Korea-U.S. FTA."

Heo was an active member of the labor union at his taxi service company in Seoul and participated in a series of protests against the free trade talks, police said citing his colleagues.

This is the first time that a Korean antifree trade activist attempted to kill himself since 2003, when Lee Kyung-hae stabbed himself to death in Mexico in protest against World Trade Organization talks.

Presidential spokesman Yoon Seung-yong expressed concern about the safety of the taxi-driver. He added that President Roh Moo-hyun will go ahead with his plan to make a special television speech tonight regardless of the outcome of the FTA negotiations.

Negotiators from Korea and the United States were struggling to narrow their gaps over the stickiest issues involving automobile and agricultural sectors.

Outside the heavily guarded hotel, about 300 protesters were waging demonstrations, calling on the government to stop the talks which they claim would bring an economic catastrophe to Korea.

The Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA, an alliance of 282 trade unions, political parties, peasant organizations, and activist organizations against the Korea-U.S. FTA, yesterday held a series of news conferences and anti-FTA protests at numerous places in Seoul.

"As the time nears to conclude the negotiations, we gathered to deliver our message that the government should stop the hasty FTA talks, which is unnecessarily expedited in accordance with a U.S. timeframe," the group said.

In the evening, hundreds of people from the anti-FTA alliance staged a candlelight vigil in front of City Hall in central Seoul.

Police yesterday deployed some 50,000 riot police in the capital to prevent the protests from evolving into violence.

Last November, major demonstrations left 63 people injured across the country, including 35 police officers.