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(Seoul, Korea) -- The People's Rally, one of the largest annual rallies in Korea, was held on December 2nd.

This was the fourth rally held this year, but ended up being the most violent.

Led by Minjoong Yondae, a nationwide activist group meaning "people in solidarity," more than 20,000 protesters gathered in Seoul for a government-permitted march.

Around 5,000 riot police, however, were waiting for the demonstrators at the rally site before the protest started. This development alarmed some participants of a potential clash between police and protesters.

Four different sectors of Korean society--workers, farmers, students and the urban poor--were scheduled to converge together at 3:30 p.m. in Jongmyo Park, central Seoul.

But the expected clash between the police and the protesters delayed the rally. Downtown streets were completely blocked off for several hours.

When a smaller rally replaced the former People's Rally at around 5:00 p.m., the police lost their patience.

"Workers are kicked out into the streets, the poor lose their homes through
violent confiscation and farmers have nowhere else to go due to the debts," the People's Rally statement said.

"The Korean government must stop its neo-liberal policies and let us live like human beings."

The four different social groups also held a rally of their own before walking towards Jongmyo Park.

About 2,000 university students around the nation gathered in Dongguk University in opposition to neo-liberal education-related policies and the U.S.'s continuing war on Afghanistan.

An estimated 3,000 workers from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) arrived at Marronnier Park, in eastern Seoul, calling for better working conditions.

5,000 people representing the urban poor demanded that oppression of the vendors and other low-income people should stop.

Farmers' groups brought 10,000 members, easily the largest contingent at the rallies. They came to protest free trade agreements and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"We cannot let the government give up on our rice. This is our life, our culture," said a farmer identified as Lee.

Numerous protesters were injured. One of them, named Yang, suffered from massive head injuries and was taken away to a hospital.

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