SEOUL, May 13: Thousands of activists held a candlelit vigil here on Saturday urging US troops to withdraw from South Korea, witnesses said.

About 4,000 protesters including activists, workers and student radicals occupied Chongno Street near the American embassy in central Seoul, holding candles as they chanted songs, shouted slogans and waved banners.

The protesters carried banners calling for the withdrawal of US troops and an end to the ongoing talks to conclude a free trade agreement with the United States.

Dozens of US military bases in and around Seoul are to be relocated to Pyongtaek, 70km south of the capital.

Construction is to begin in October but some residents and farmers, backed by anti-US activists, have refused to vacate their houses on the site.

A coalition of civic groups vowed to push ahead with another massive protest in Pyongtaek on Sunday. Activists say the relocation is aimed at facilitating a pre-emptive US attack against North Korea.—AFP