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Labor unionists and civic groups are calling for the revision of the law banning outdoor assembly and demonstrations near foreign embassies here in Korea.

They complained that they are unable to hold rallies near the Government Building Complex and office buildings in the heart of Seoul because a growing number of foreign embassies are moving to downtown commercial buildings.

Article II of the law governing assembly and demonstrations stipulates that outdoor rallies and demonstrations are illegal within 100 meters from foreign diplomatic missions, the National Assembly compound and all court houses in the nation.

The controversy was sparked as Panama was disclosed to move its embassy into Hyundai Merchant Marine building today behind the Government Building Complex.

The surrounding area of the government office building is one of the most popular sites for anti-government protests and demonstrations.

The plaza in front of the Dongwha Duty-Free Shop at the Kwanghwamun intersection was also declared off-limits to rallies in July last year after the Brunei Embassy moved into the building.

The hard-line Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) yesterday filed a suit with the Seoul Administrative Court against a police ban on rallies in front of the Samsung Group headquarters in Taepyongno. Samsung Life Insurance building, next to Samsung headquarter building, houses the Singapore and El Salvador embassies.

Scores of laid-off Samsung workers had planned to gather before the building on May 21 to protest against their dismissal, but they could not do so because of the ban.

``It is absurd to prohibit rallies near foreign diplomatic missions. No other countries in the world have a law restricting such human rights,'' said Son Nak-ku, KCTU's pubic relations director.

He said the KCTU will ask the Constitutional Court to review the law if the administrative court rules against its complaint.

Son criticized that the law contains a clause overriding the Constitution, saying that the nation's industrial giants, including Samsung, are eager to invite foreign diplomatic missions into their buildings at lower leases to prevent nearby demonstrations.

The Kyobo Life Insurance building across the Donghwa building houses the embassies of Australia and the Netherlands, while the Canadian Embassy is located at the Kolon building in Mugyo-dong and the Paraguayan Embassy is located in the SK building in Sorin-dong.

The Hanwha building in the Chonggyechon street houses the Greek Embassy and the Daewoo building across the Seoul Station rents space to the Uruguayan Embassy. Venezuela and Guatemala have located their missions in the Chongno Tower in Uni-dong.

The Lawyers for a Democratic Society and the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) said on Wednesday that they would lodge a complaint with the Constitutional Court on the issue.

The CCEJ claimed that the law infringes on human rights, which are guaranteed by the Constitution.

Lee Seog-yeon, CCEJ secretary general, said that the law contains serious problem by restricting the freedom of expression and assembly.

In March, the National Alliance for Democracy & Reunification of Korea (NADRK) already filed a suit against earlier police bans on its planned rallies near the U.S. Embassy to protest U.S. killings of over 100 civilian Korean refugees in Nogun-ri during the 1950-53 Korean War.