An opposition lawmaker detonated a tear gas canister inside the National Assembly's main chamber on Tuesday in protest at the ruling party's move to force through a free trade agreement with the United States.
Rep. Kim Sun-dong of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) was in the full parliamentary session at around 4 p.m. when lawmakers of the ruling Grand National Party abruptly called a plenary session in an apparent move to ratify the bill.
Kim threw the tear gas bomb near the Speaker's seat, where vice parliamentary speaker Chung Ui-hwa was sitting at the time.
Kim was immediately taken away by Assembly police from the main chamber.
Parliamentary Speaker Park Hee-tae issued an emergency order and locked down parliament to prevent possible physical clashes.
Several lawmakers left the room after experiencing breathing problems from the tear gas, but soon returned to the chamber to proceed with a floor vote. (Yonhap)
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