Police seek to arrest 44 in Ssangyong plant clash

[Omaha Steve]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2009/08/08/69/0302000000AEN20090808001300315F.HTML

2009/08/08 20:00 KST

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Police said Saturday they sought arrest warrants for 44 people over a months-long strike by laid-off workers of the Ssangyong Motor Co. that has paralyzed the ailing carmaker.

Police earlier detained 96 Ssangyong workers and civic group leaders, investigating whether they conducted illegal activities during the May 21-Aug. 2 strike before a labor-management compromise was reached this week.

Production at Ssangyong's sole plant in this rural town has been shut down for more than two months as nearly 1,000 unionized workers protesting a mass layoff occupied a paint shop and other facilities. The company said it will resume production activities at the plant next week.

Police sought arrest warrants for unionized Ssangyong workers and activists who launched sympathy-protests on the charges violent conduct and interfering with company production and police duties.

"We will punish all those who led the protest or used violence," Cho Hyun-oh, commissioner of the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, said at Friday's news briefing. "People who assaulted a police officer or damaged police equipment should be held accountable."

FULL story at link.