[Anchor]
Protests protesting high living costs in France have entered their second month. A general strike rally organized by major labor unions brought out the largest crowds yet on a weekday, accompanied by sporadic arson and clashes.
Paris correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports.
[Reporter]
Downtown streets are filled with thick tear gas smoke.
People construct barricades with wooden planks and throw stones.
On November 5 local time, general strike rallies protesting high inflation and other issues were held across France.
Major labor unions participated, while students joined in by staging school blockades.
Police estimated that 600,000 people took part, while organizers put the figure at 1.6 million, with over 100,000 people gathering in Paris alone.
Despite it being a weekday, this marks the largest turnout since the protests began two months ago.
[Protesting Citizen: They offer us meager crumbs and tell us to stop. We cannot endure this any longer.]
While the marches concluded peacefully in most areas, major clashes erupted once again near the end of the demonstrations.
Some radical protesters refusing to disperse clashed with police, leaving around 60 people injured.
As rally participants set fires like this, police rushed in to forcibly disperse the protesters.
At a high school in Toulouse, students fired mortar-style fireworks, causing a massive fire that severely damaged the school building.
The school in question has issued an indefinite closure.
Deploying a total of 70,000 police officers nationwide, French authorities arrested 450 people at the scene.
As the protest momentum shows no signs of cooling after two months and is instead growing fiercer, the French economy minister is scheduled to hold a press conference today (November 6) regarding countermeasures.
Next week, Prime Minister Lecornu is scheduled to hold talks with labor union leaders, drawing attention to whether they can deliver solutions to appease public anger.
(Video by: Kim Si-nae | Video Editing by: Lee So-young)
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