By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Police are gearing up again to forcibly disperse laid-off union workers from Ssangyong Motors who are occupying a building at the company's factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, after labor and management failed to produce an agreement.

Around 3,000 riot police carried out large-scale simulation drills Monday in preparation for a raid on the building. Dozens of ambulances and fire engines were also mobilized in the drills.

"We are weighing the right time for an operation," National Police Agency Commissioner Kang Hee-rak said. "We will put priority on the safety of both protesters and police in doing so."

In response, protesters reportedly have drawn up "defense lines" using flammable materials that could potentially ignite amid a major clash.

"If police launch an operation, we will fight back with slingshots, steel pipes, petrol bombs and other weapons," a protester said using a loudhailer.

The union and management are sticking to their stances on key issues ― the union is demanding the cancellation of the layoffs and management said it will not begin talks until that demand is dropped. Whether the government should take responsibility for selling the automaker to Shanghai Automotive Industry, which some say resulted in the Ssangyong insolvency, is also pitting the union against management.

Five lawmakers of opposition parties staged a sit-in Tuesday in front of the plant, demanding the government engage in talks with union representatives. Eight other lawmakers issued a joint statement calling on the government to play a key role in ending the confrontation.

The lawmakers attempted to deliver 3,000 bottles of fresh water and other aid kits to protesters, but were blocked by the police. Jeon Myung-hoon, a spokesman for a progressive lawyers' association, said it will file a suit against police for blocking the supplies. Police cut the supply of these about a week ago.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr