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Protest against Daewoo sale gathers steam
Seoul, March 18: Demonstrators protesting government-backed layoffs threw stones and firebombs at riot police and burned an American flag on Saturday. Some 2,000 students, union members and laid-off workers held a march to condemn the government's goal of selling the bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co. to General Motors Corp. The clash between one group of demonstrators and riot police left at least two protesters and one policeman bleeding in the face. Several students were detained for questioning, police said. Urged on by government-controlled creditor banks, Daewoo Motor laid off 1,751 workers in February in order to make it a better business prospect for GM. South Korea's third-largest auto maker has been surviving under court receivership - a process under which all debts were frozen and new management was installed - since it filed for bankruptcy in November with estimated debts of at least $10 billion. President Kim Dae-jung has sought foreign investment to help overhaul the economy in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The Wall Street Journal Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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