Around 80,000 anti-government protesters took to the streets of Seoul in the city’s largest demonstration in almost a decade.
The marches in the South Korean capital were organised by an umbrella labour union and various civic groups.
Although people had diverse complaints, they were united against the conservative government under president Park Geun-hye.
Demonstrators, many of whom wore masks and carried banners, took over a major street and marched between tight perimeters outlined by police buses.
Officers had strategically parked their vehicles to prevent access to roads leading to the presidential Blue House.
Things turned violent when the police clashed with members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
Officials also tried, unsuccessfully, to arrest KCTU president Han Sang-goon during a news conference.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, but shocking photos have emerged of police firing powerful water cannons to disperse protesters.
The Seoul authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Han over a failed court appearance, after he was indicted for helping organise a protest in May that turned violent.
Unions in South Korea have been criticising government attempts to change labour laws to make it easier for companies to lay off workers, and plans to introduce mandatory state-issued history books from 2017.
They say the textbooks, which have not been written yet, would be politically motivated and could try to whitewash the brutal dictatorships that preceded South Korea’s bloody journey towards democracy in the 1980s.
President Park is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, the assassinated military dictator who ruled the country in the 1960s and 70s, who left behind a legacy of severe oppression.
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