【明報專訊】The G20 Seoul Summit took place on November 11 and 12 in Seoul (首爾), South Korea. Large protests broke out there against it.
About 40,000 students, workers and peasants gathered in a plaza outside Seoul City Hall. They shouted slogans and sang songs to express their anger at globalisation and the US-South Korean free trade treaty. Protestors said G20 could not provide jobs or effectively stem flows of speculative capital. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with South Korean workers' scanty (不足的) rights.
The protest was peaceful until several hundred radical protestors defied police officers, who dispersed the crowd with pepper spray.
■Keywords
demonstration 示威
free trade 自由貿易
international summit 國際高峰會
■Questions
1. What is the international event mentioned above?
2. Why have South Koreans protested against the G20 Seoul Summit?
3. Why is it hard for such an international conference to address the issue of labour rights?
■Further readings
1. The Korea Herald. "Metal workers' union warns of protest during summit", 2010.11.08
2. G20 Official Website: www.g20.org
