SEOUL - Protesters angry over American demands that South Korea pay more for defense destroyed portraits of the U.S. ambassador stuck on blocks of tofu outside the U.S. embassy on Friday after police warned them against staging a more aggressive demonstration.
U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris has become a political lightning rod for South Koreans angered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to get South Korea to pay billions of dollars more toward maintaining the 28,500 American troops stationed there.
“Harris out! We are not a U.S. colony! We are not an ATM machine!” the demonstrators chanted outside the embassy, surrounded by phalanxes of police.
The left-leaning protesters from several youth groups cheered as two students smashed up blocks of tofu and acorn jelly adorned with paper portraits of Harris.

The groups had initially planned to behead an effigy of Harris but scaled back their demonstration to smashing up the blocks of traditional Korean food after the police warning.
Across the street from the U.S. embassy, a rival gathering of conservative, pro-Washington protesters hit people wearing the masks of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in with toy hammers. (Reuters)