The possibility of another clash between the police and activist groups is looming large as the organizers of the violent Nov. 14 antigovernment demonstration have vowed to hold a second rally despite a police ban.

On Saturday, police banned the Korean Peasants League — one of the activist groups that participated in the demonstration at Gwanghwamun Plaza last month — from holding a rally in the same place on Dec. 5.

The decision was based on the Assembly and Demonstration Act, which allows police to ban any gathering or demonstration that poses a direct threat to public peace and order.

Police presupposed that the Dec. 5 rally would turn violent as its organizers and purposes were the same as those of the riotous demonstration two weeks ago.

They warned that leaders of the activist groups would be strictly punished if they defied the ban, as would participants who refused to follow dispersal orders.

The police announcement came after Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong warned in a televised address Friday that the government would not tolerate any illegal and violent demonstrations.

Yet the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and other activist groups are determined to push ahead with their plan. In a statement released Sunday, the umbrella union vowed to proceed with the second “popular indignation rally” despite the police ban.

It denounced the police decision as a negation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to assemble and demonstrate.

Claiming that the police ban was based on an erroneous presupposition, it said that just because the organizers of the planned demonstration would be the same as those of the Nov. 14 rally, it did not follow that the Dec. 5 event would be violent.

The labor group also said it would go on a general strike immediately if police raided the Jogyesa Buddhist Temple in Seoul to arrest its leader, Han Sang-kyun, who has been taking shelter there following the November demonstration.

Han pledged Friday to make sure that the second rally would proceed free of violence. He admitted that some protesters had violated the law during the first rally by tying ropes to police vehicles and dragging them in a bid to penetrate the police barricades.

As things stand, another massive antigovernment demonstration is expected in the heart of the capital this weekend, aggravating the confrontation between the government and activist groups.

To prevent an eruption of violence, the organizers of the protest rally need to make every effort to ensure that it proceeds free of violence. They should bear in mind that should the second rally get violent, they would be totally discredited in the eyes of the public.

And before denouncing the police for restricting their right to demonstrate, the activist groups should first take full responsibility for the violence at the November rally.

KCTU president Han should stop hiding in the temple and surrender to the police. Further, the protestors who wore masks and went on a rampage during the Gwanghwamun rally should come forward for police investigation.

To change the protest culture in Korea, the organizers should first respect the law.