Militant South Korean anti-globalization protesters sprayed the United States consulate in Hong Kong with graffiti in their latest feisty demonstration against World Trade Organisation talks here.

About 100 protesters, mainly farmers, marched on the downtown consulate and sprayed their rallying cry, "Down, Down, WTO" on the outside wall in red and black paint.

<##IMAGE##>

Six of them also had their heads shaved in front of the consulate, to the beat of drums. In a 90-minute vigil, the farmers also vandalized a steel sign and pelted the front wall with eggs.

Another group laid siege to the nearby South Korean consulate, where about 20 protesters jostled with police. They later managed to break through the police barrier to get into the building to demand to meet with consulate officials.

Some 50 of their fellow protesters remained outside, beating drums and singing songs, before leaving for a candle-lit vigil. The protesters inside the consulate building finally agreed to leave late Friday.

The minor incidents follow two days of street skirmishes with police in which hundreds of riot officers, in an overwhelming display of force, repelled them with pepper spray and batons.

The mostly aged farmers and factory workers that make up the 1,400-strong contingent of South Korean anti-WTO protesters this week have intrigued this Chinese city with their relentless and well-organized clashes.

They are protesting against the WTO"s aims of liberalizing global trade, which they fear will open the domestic rice market to floods of cheap imports, putting their livelihoods at risk.

They have threatened to step up their campaign on Saturday when more scuffles are expected.

At previous global trade talks one or two of their members have publicly committed suicide in protest at liberalization plans.

The Koreans are among some 10,000 activists in the city to protest against the six-day trade talks which began Tuesday.

Opponents say the summit is not paying attention to the needs of the poor and argue that liberalizing trade would benefit only rich countries.

The police have mounted one of their biggest security operations for the meeting, putting 9,000 officers on duty in expectations of violence like that at the 1999 WTO talks in Seattle.