Two major umbrella labor unions will hold large-scale rallies in Seoul and other major cities nationwide this week to commemorate Labor Day, police said Monday, vowing stern responses to any illegal acts. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions plans to organize rallies in 15 cities and regions across South Korea on Wednesday, which will involve around 85,000 members combined. Its rally in Seoul will begin in the central district of Jongno at 2 p.m. Wednesday, and some 25,000 members will march in the two directions of Jung-gu and Yongsan-gu. Some 7,000 members of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, the other major umbrella union, also plan to gather in Seoul's Yeouido on the same day, officials said. Holding a meeting on how to handle the rallies, the National Police Agency (NPA) decided to deploy 162 police units involving 10,000 officers to the scenes across the nation, including 101 units in Seoul. Police vowed stern and swift responses to any illegal moves by the groups, such as occupying stree ts and interfering with government officials in exercising their duties at the rally sites. "We will maintain the policy of actively safeguarding registered, legal rallies, while sternly dealing with illegal behaviors so as to settle a law-abiding rally culture in our society," NPA Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun said. Source: Yonhap News Agency