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| A student is being taken into police custody after attending a sit-in protest against U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap |
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| A man salutes the Korean national flag during a rally to support Trump's state visit to Korea at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
The Korean government will dispatch 8,000 police officers to the National Assembly to prevent demonstrators from marring U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit next week. Trump will deliver a speech at the Assembly on Wednesday.
Police have rejected most left-wing civic groups' applications for rallies near Cheong Wa Dae, in which Trump is scheduled to have a summit talk with Korea's President Moon Jae-in Tuesday.
Under Korean law, assembly plans have to be reported to police in advance, who can reject them under certain circumstances.
It is the first time the police have restricted rallies since Moon took office in May.
But some rallies will still be held a few hundred meters further from the Assembly and the presidential office. Police are considering setting up blockades around them and dispatching heavily armed squads there in case they turn violent.
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Police will also block protests expected near the Seoul hotel where the U.S. president plans to stay.
The Collective Action for No Trump, which consists of 220 left-leaning civic groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the country's second-largest umbrella trade union, said it believes more than 5,000 people will participate in anti-Trump protests during Trump's two-day visit.
They plan to stage a major rally in central Seoul Saturday to promote their messages ahead of his visit.
The groups believe only a peaceful approach can change North Korea and Trump's pressure and sanctions won't work.
The KCTU has a history of anti-U.S. protests. On Oct. 14, its members gathered near a Busan hotel, where the U.S. Navy held a party to celebrate its 242-year history, chanting messages such as "U.S. troops go home!" They gathered again at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul Sunday to protest Trump's visit.
Meanwhile, conservative civic groups, which generally share more positive views of the U.S., said they will hold a rally on the same day to welcome Trump.
According to a recent survey by The Korea Times and Hankook Research, about 60 percent of Koreans think of the U.S. positively, far more than they do for four other neighboring countries — China, Russia, Japan and North Korea.
Most Koreans also regard the U.S. as their crucial ally in terms of national defense. A survey by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs earlier this year shows 72.2 percent said they believe the Korea-U.S. military alliance was good for national defense.
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