Farmers and anti-World Trade Organization (WTO) groups held rallies Saturday demanding the government to take a firm stance on protecting the domestic rice market. The coalition of farmers and civic groups urged the government to hold a national referendum on agricultural imports, declare not to open the rice market and legislate a bill on food self-sufficiency. Such protests have flared since Thursday as the first anniversary of the late Lee Kyung-hee approaches. Lee committed suicide in Cancun, Mexico, the venue of last year's WTO talks, in a protest to global trade liberalization. Some 50,000 demonstrators are expected to join nationwide marches over the weekend.