SEOUL, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- South Korea's umbrella labor group began a nationwide strike Thursday calling for greater protection of non-regular workers' rights.
An estimated 60,000 unionized workers at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions participated in the walkout, according to organizers.
The walkout, however, did not have a major impact on the nation's key industries, as the striking workers were merely 10 percent of its 620,000 affiliated unionists.
"We have embarked on a general strike from today to fight for better labor rights for non-regular workers," KCTU spokesman Kang Sang-cheol.
Some 10,000 striking workers gathered in front of the National Assembly building for a rally calling for the government and parliament to devise legislation to protect non-regular workers' rights.
They clashed with police, hurling bottles and swinging bamboo sticks at police who responded with water cannons.
Later, striking workers joined a protest rally by some 4,000 farmers in central Seoul to oppose the wider opening of the rice market. They took to the streets for a candlelight protest until late into the night.
