Fighting has again broken out among politicians in the South Korean parliament in a row over next year's budget.Violence flared after opposition MPs blocked members of the ruling Grand National Party from entering parliament.
About 400 lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party launched a sit-in to block GNP members from entering the main hall of the Congress.
Tables and chairs were used to blocade doors and physical fights broke out in corridors, reports the Daily Telegraph.
One GNP lawmaker was taken to hospital after being hit on the head with a gavel during the scuffle, according a local news agency.
The clashes continued into the night with some 40 DP lawmakers invading the chairman’s seat and podium in the main congress hall to block the GNP from pushing their budget bill through the parliament.
Scenes of chaos are not unusual to South Korea’s confrontational and melodramatic politics, where rival parties sometimes resort to violence to get their way.
Last year, an MP required treatment in hospital following a clash over new media reform laws and the speaker’s podium was invaded earlier this month in a dispute over the provision of free meals for students.
Post published in: News