Security high for Korea torch leg

The latest leg of the Olympic torch relay is well under way in South Korea with protesters vowing to disrupt its run through the capital Seoul. The 24-km (15-mile) route from Olympic Park to City Hall is heavily guarded by 8,000 police officers. Security high for Korea torch leg Human rights groups have said thousands are preparing to protest over China's forced repatriation of North Korean refugees and its crackdown in Tibet. But flag-waving Chinese supporters have so far vastly outnumbered protesters. Police have warned anyone trying to disrupt the relay would be severely punished. Nagano clashes The torch arrived in South Korea from Japan, where four people were injured and five men arrested in scuffles. More than 3,000 police could not stop Japanese nationalists and pro-Tibet activists clashing with pro-Chinese groups in the mountain resort of Nagano on Saturday. A coalition of human rights groups in South Korea has warned of similar scenes during the relay in central Seoul. Protesters have threatened to stop the Olympic beacon crossing one of the main river bridges in the city. Thousands of Chinese people study or work in South Korea and many of those have taken to the streets to welcome the torch. About 1,500 flag-waving Chinese supporters gathered at the relay's starting point, vastly outnumbering a small group of protesters were also seen in the area. The U.S. embassy has cautioned its citizens in Seoul to avoid unnecessary travel during the relay, which started shortly after 1400 local time (0600 BST). Dozens of human rights activists took part in a demonstration near the Olympic Park on Saturday ahead of the torch's arrival. In addition to protests against the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the relay is also seen as an opportunity to raise the issue of China's policy of repatriating North Korean defectors. Vowing to stop the march, human rights lawyer Kim Sang-chul told South Korean news agency Yonhap China had repatriated 75,000 North Koreans over the past 15 years. "China tries to promote itself as a civilized nation but what it's doing to the defectors is uncivilized," he said. Security for the relay includes 120 police runners and a helicopter. "Those who attempt to stop the relay will surely be arrested on the site and given stern punishment," a police spokesman said. Over the following few days, the torch will stop in North Korea and Vietnam. The BBC in Seoul says the Pyongyang leg of the relay is guaranteed to be trouble-free. North Korea tolerates no public protest and the torch will be greeted by hundreds of thousands of people in a choreographed mass display of flower-waving, he says. Protests elsewhere on the torch's progress have turned the celebratory tour of 20 countries into what analysts describe as a public-relations disaster for Beijing. Demonstrations in Athens, London, Paris and San Francisco have dominated media coverage of the relay. But the flame has made relatively peaceful progress through other cities, including Bangkok in Thailand and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

Security high for Korea torch leg

Human rights groups have said thousands are preparing to protest over China's forced repatriation of North Korean refugees and its crackdown in Tibet.

But flag-waving Chinese supporters have so far vastly outnumbered protesters.

Police have warned anyone trying to disrupt the relay would be severely punished.

Nagano clashes

The torch arrived in South Korea from Japan, where four people were injured and five men arrested in scuffles.

More than 3,000 police could not stop Japanese nationalists and pro-Tibet activists clashing with pro-Chinese groups in the mountain resort of Nagano on Saturday.

A coalition of human rights groups in South Korea has warned of similar scenes during the relay in central Seoul.

Protesters have threatened to stop the Olympic beacon crossing one of the main river bridges in the city.

Thousands of Chinese people study or work in South Korea and many of those have taken to the streets to welcome the torch.

About 1,500 flag-waving Chinese supporters gathered at the relay's starting point, vastly outnumbering a small group of protesters were also seen in the area.

The U.S. embassy has cautioned its citizens in Seoul to avoid unnecessary travel during the relay, which started shortly after 1400 local time (0600 BST).

Dozens of human rights activists took part in a demonstration near the Olympic Park on Saturday ahead of the torch's arrival.

In addition to protests against the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the relay is also seen as an opportunity to raise the issue of China's policy of repatriating North Korean defectors.

Vowing to stop the march, human rights lawyer Kim Sang-chul told South Korean news agency Yonhap China had repatriated 75,000 North Koreans over the past 15 years.

"China tries to promote itself as a civilized nation but what it's doing to the defectors is uncivilized," he said.

Security for the relay includes 120 police runners and a helicopter.

"Those who attempt to stop the relay will surely be arrested on the site and given stern punishment," a police spokesman said.

Over the following few days, the torch will stop in North Korea and Vietnam.

The BBC in Seoul says the Pyongyang leg of the relay is guaranteed to be trouble-free.

North Korea tolerates no public protest and the torch will be greeted by hundreds of thousands of people in a choreographed mass display of flower-waving, he says.

Protests elsewhere on the torch's progress have turned the celebratory tour of 20 countries into what analysts describe as a public-relations disaster for Beijing.

Demonstrations in Athens, London, Paris and San Francisco have dominated media coverage of the relay.

But the flame has made relatively peaceful progress through other cities, including Bangkok in Thailand and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.