SOUTH KOREA

15,000 Protest U.S. Rice Imports: About 15,000 farmers and students marched through the South Korean capital chanting anti-American slogans last week in a protest against U.S. pressure to open the country’s protected rice market. “Let’s stop U.S. rice imports,” chanted the protesters, who wore headbands and carried banners. Thousands of police in riot gear were deployed, but they did not stop the march that followed a two-hour rally at the campus of Dongguk University. The South Korean government has repeatedly said it has no plans to liberalize its farm policy.