S. Korea students rally for tuition fee cuts

South Korean college students, civic groups and opposition parties held a candlelit rally Friday to call for quick government action to reduce tuition fees. South Korea has the world's second-highest average college tuition fees after the United States, according to a 2009 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report. Police warned of stern action if protesters occupied streets or engaged in other illegal acts. But organisers went ahead with the protest in a plaza in central Seoul. Police put the number of protesters at 2,000 shortly after 1000 GMT. Some 510 civic groups have formed a coalition to support students and opposition party leaders also vowed to take part in the rally. Tuition fees became a sensitive political issue this year after several leaders of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) proposed halving fees, in an attempt to woo voters before next year's parliamentary elections. The senior GNP figures are now facing sharp criticism for raising the issue without securing the financial resources to make the cut. The average yearly tuition fee at colleges and universities was eight million won ($7,407) this year. Medical students paid the most with an average of over 10 million won. There are about 3.5 million students attending 200 four-year universities and 150 junior colleges. Nearly half of the institutions' finances comes from tuition fees. State auditors have vowed to inspect colleges to see how they manage finances.