Thousands of South Koreans gathered in the Seoul City Hall Plaza on Wednesday afternoon to protest a negotiating free trade agreement (FTA) between Seoul and Washington despite heavy rains.

The protestors, mostly farmers and social activists from all over the country, waved flags and banners with "No FTA" and other slogans in the plaza despite heavy rains.

The government deployed at least 25,000 riot police, about 80 percent of the country's total riot police force, in Seoul on Wednesday in case of physical clashes.

The traffic in the downtown had been in paralysis since the protestors began to gather at about 2:00 p.m. local time (0500 GMT) . There have been no reports about clashes between protestors and the police so far.

South Korean and U.S. officials launched a four-day negotiation over the FTA pact on Monday in Seoul. It is the second round S. Korean-US FTA talks. The first round of the talks were held in Washington in early June.

Source: Xinhua