Police Assault SsangYong Factory

And the war continues. This time the main characters are the police officers who decided to storm the SsangYong plant in South Korea one more time. Approximately 80 policemen covered by three police and two fire helicopters assaulted the plant and tried to take the protesters out of the paintshop. According to media reports, police forced have already occupied several buildings within the factory but it's still unclear whether they plan to storm the paintshop or not.

SsangYong strikers fought back with fire bombs and by setting fires to cars within the plan. No casualties have been reported for the time being.

It all started on May 21 when SsangYong's board decided to cut workforce at the South Korean production facility. Hundreds of affected workers decided to demonstrate against the decision which they think could be avoided by taking over a paintshop full with inflammable materials.

Since then, police have tried to raid the building but, due to the risk of an explosion, could not make use of firepower. Nevertheless, commandos sprayed tear gas over the strikers in an attempt to convince them to surrender. As a reply, workers attacked the officers with nuts and bolts, causing an injury to one of their comrades.

The company management decided to cut off water and power supplies to the affected part of the plant while police stopped anyone trying to give the strikers food or water.

On a separate front, sources close to the matter are already talking about liquidation. With the whole dispute on the verge of civil war, liquidation rumors are nothing more than a battle cry.