MPs attack each other in South Korea

Seoul: The tension between North Korea on one hand and South Korea and the US on the other may have escalated sharply, but in South Korea another battle was fought within.

Lawmakers from rival parties physically attacked each other about the country's Budget for the coming year.

At Parliament in Seoul on Tuesday night, the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) blocked the lawmakers of the Opposition Democratic Party (DP) from entering the plenary session of the Land and Maritime Affairs Committee.

In turn, 400 Opposition lawmakers sat in the main lobby of Parliament to block the GNP lawmakers from entering the main hall.

They also took over the Chairman's seat and podium in the main hall to prevent the GNP members from passing the Budget bill unilaterally. A GNP lawmaker was rushed to a local hospital after being hit on the head with a gavel thrown during the scuffle.

The GNP which has a majority with 171 seats in the 298-member Parliament has threatened to put the Budget bill to voting in the plenary session of the committee on Wednesday.

But the DP has threatened to get violent again to prevent that.