SEOUL — For a good chunk of the summer, parts of downtown Seoul were a virtual war zone.

Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets to protest everything from free trade agreement talks with the United States to overpriced propane.

Massive rallies became increasingly violent, with protesters and police clashing, sending hundreds to local hospitals. Nightly news broadcasts showed surreal scenes of the mayhem and U.S. troops were warned to steer clear of the area — home to city hall and the U.S. Embassy.

But those protests, experts say, are natural for a young democracy.

That’s also how Spc. Devin Harris sees it. The soldier recently saw about 100 South Koreans protesting the U.S. military presence at a rally outside one of U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan’s main gates. He said they were peaceful, and he understood their point of view.

"They were exercising their right to protest. I think it’s good. I wish Americans did more of it," said Harris, who has been stationed in South Korea for more than a year.

But the sight of anti-U.S. protests rubs some of his American friends the wrong way.

"They were like, ‘Stupid Koreans, we’re here to protect them. What do they have the right to complain about?’ " he said.

Nationwide, there were a record 7,934 protests during the first half of 2008, according to the Korean National Police. A KNP spokesman attributed the increase to protests over importation of U.S. beef. Last fiscal year, U.S. Forces Korea officials issued 64 protest-related advisories to warn troops to avoid areas where clashes might occur.

The fact that South Korea didn’t hold its first true democratic elections until 20 years ago explains much of the passion, said Yonsei University sociology professor Kim Dong-no.

"Unlike the U.S. and other developed nations, Korea has not accomplished a systematic democracy yet," Kim said. "In theory, we are living in a democratic society, but in reality, Korea is still in the process of learning how to implement it.

"In the process of reaching democratization, people will resist and protest for it."

You Young-jae is the policy director for the Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea, a protest group that has tackled the South Korean-U.S. free trade agreement, the status of forces agreement between the countries, and the U.S. military presence in South Korea.

During a recent interview in Seoul, You said he hopes his organization will create change.

"These are strategic issues that cannot be solved in a short time," he said. "Our demonstrations greatly contribute to raising awareness of the problems."

And it was decades of violent protest that finally made South Korea a democratic nation, said Mark Monahan, an Asian studies professor at the University of Maryland.

"Constant student demonstrations" from the 1960s through 1988 led to the end of military rule in the country, he said.

He also thinks that South Korea’s modern history lends itself to a protest mentality.

"Prior to World War II there was 40 years of cruel Japanese rule," he said. "Then the country was divided and occupied by the U.S. and the [Soviet Union]. Then the Korean War. Korea’s modern history is suffering and humiliation."

Monahan said the South Koreans are very nationalist — and a proud people.

"They do not want to be pushed around anymore," he said.

Lee Su-ki, a researcher with the Culture Research Institute for Hankuk Foreign Studies, said Japanese colonial rule left Koreans with a "united we stand, divided we fall mentality."

She said that mentality can result in some people participating in protests they don’t necessarily believe in.

"Koreans carrying out distinctive protests can be the idea of ‘keeping up with the Joneses,’ " she said. "Even if their thoughts and opinions are differing from others, they would follow the group. It is like, ‘If somebody is doing that, I feel I should do that, too.’ "

Kim Hyun-ji, 26, seems to fit that role. She began attending anti-U.S. beef protests this summer because she wanted to support her friends.

While she really isn’t afraid of mad cow disease through the U.S. beef — a major point of contention among protest groups — she has continued to protest because she’s angry that her government won’t listen to the demands of its people.

She says the experience has been "addictive."

"It’s like an unyielding spirit rising from within," Kim said of taking to the streets in the protests.

Stars and Stripes reporters Hwang Hae-rym and Ashley Rowland contributed to this report.