Amid the increasing number of violent protests, residents of Puan County, North Cholla Province, are fast emerging as the biggest headache for the Roh Moo-hyun administration. However, the government's lack of communication and unity among its own offices seem to be adding even more confusion to the situation, which is already verging on anarchy.

``The slightest provocation from the government may force a serious deterioration in the situation,'' Ko Young-cho, spokesman of the Puan Residents' Committee Against a Nuclear Waste Site, said during an interview with The Korea Times on Friday.

Ko said there were a lot of people who are on the verge of taking ``extreme'' measures. When asked what he meant by an extreme measure, Ko mentioned the Hyundai Heavy Industries worker who killed himself out of frustration after his pleas to the government went unanswered.

The first major outbreak of violence over the government's plan to build a nuclear waste storage facility on Wido, an islet off the county, took place in August when protesters, mostly Puan residents, set two police vehicles and a large number of used tires on fire. But the frequency and the level of such violent crimes have been increasing as different government officials and departments have suggested different and contradicting solutions.

On Sept. 8, Kim Chong-kyu, head of Puan County, was assaulted by an angry mob of residents at a Buddhist temple after a number of government officials including Education Minister Yoon Deok-hong refused to reconsider the location of the nuclear waste facility even when thousands of students in Puan lodged a boycott of school classes for over three months.

On Monday, more than 1,000 residents clashed with riot police, injuring more than 60 residents and police officers, after the government turned down the residents' proposal to hold a residential vote on the projected construction of the nuclear facility. The residents had proposed to hold a popular vote within the year, but the government refused due to the lack of legal precedence for government-administered opinion polls.

After the decision was met by furious protests from residents, Prime Minister Koh Gun contradicted the government's decision Wednesday saying a vote was possible within the year even without a legal provision. But a day later, Koh retracted his statement after a score of government officials including Government Administration-Home Affairs Minister Huh Sung-kwan publicly expressed their disapproval.

To prevent another outbreak of violence and to restore order and security in Puan, the government dispatched 15 police forces from Seoul and increased the number of police to 8,000 in the small county of only 60,000 residents, while threatening stern punishments for those involved in violent rallies.

``Recent protests in Puan have become extremely violent and destructive, which cannot be permitted in any law-abiding country. The government cannot but take stern measures to restore security in the county,'' Government Administration-Home Affairs Minister Huh said during a news conference Thursday.

Still, the residents argue fault lies deep within the government because they are adding even more confusion and anger to the problem and say such rallies will continue to take place until the government is willing to fix what is the real cause of the problem.

``How can you just discard our rallies as violent when hundreds of people have given up their jobs and wages for more than three months? We are only exercising our right to protect ourselves and we will continue to fight for what is right and what is ours,'' the spokesman of the residents' committee said.