THE president of South Korea’s second-largest union federation was jailed for five years yesterday for organising anti-government protests.

The Seoul District Court found Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) president Han Sang Gyun guilty of orchestrating an anti-government protest in November.

He was held responsible for injuries to 76 police officers and damage to 43 police buses.

Police blocked the march route with buses and turned water cannon on protesters who tried to haul them out of the way.

“Some of the protesters tried to pull the buses with ropes and even brandished metal pipes at police officers,” the court claimed.

“The defendant took a role by preparing and distributing the equipment, such as ropes and ladders to climb over the bus barricades.”

Mr Han was also ordered to pay a huge fine of 500,000 won (£330,000). Prosecutors had sought an even harsher sentence of eight years.

The decision prompted outrage from some 200 union members and supporters who filled the courtroom.

“We will continue our struggle to secure the freedom of assembly,” they told reporters following the verdict, vowing to hold protests this month.

Mr Han’s lawyer Chang Jong Oh said his legal team would appeal against the ruling.

Tens of thousands of people took part in the November 14 march calling on President Park Geun Hye to resign over so-called labour reforms that attacked their rights.

The demonstration was also against government attempts to force schools to adopt standard textbooks whitewashing South Korea’s bloody post-war history.

Ms Park is the daughter of assassinated military dictator Park Chung Hee, whose regime was marked by massacres of student protesters.

Mr Han surrendered to police in December after taking refuge in a Buddhist temple for weeks after the protest. A small army of 2,000 police were sent to arrest the labour leader as he emerged from the temple, flanked by union officials.

November’s protest was not the KCTU’s first run-in with the right-wing government. In 2008 it called a general strike against the lifting of a ban on US beef imports as part of the major “mad cow disease” protests.