Police Storm Seoul Hotel to End Strike

SEOUL —  Police armed with smoke bombs stormed a posh Seoul hotel before dawn Thursday, detaining 1,100 striking hotel workers who resisted by hurling furniture, smashing windows and spraying fire extinguishers. At least 39 people were injured.

As smoke filled the lobby of Seoul’s Lotte Hotel, 2,000 riot police wearing helmets and carrying batons entered the building in downtown Seoul.

Ambulances took 33 workers to hospitals, and six police officers also were injured, said the Yonhap national news agency, quoting police sources. No guests were hurt.

At the management’s request, police stormed the hotel to evict workers who were staging a sit-in in the hotel’s second-floor grand ballroom to demand better working conditions.

When police entered the hotel, the workers fled to lounges on the 36th and 37th floors and cut off power to the elevators. They also stacked chairs and other furniture on stairways to block police.

They smashed windows to unfurl a large tablecloth with hastily scrawled words protesting the police action.

Police quickly overpowered the protesters.

At the time of the police action, there were guests in 240 of the hotel’s 1,300 rooms, officials said.