Seoul - At least 50 people were injured on the second day of clashes between police and strikers at South Korean carmaker Ssangyong Motor Co, media reports said Wednesday.

Police commandoes seized all but one barricaded paint shop in an attempt to end a two-month strike at the ailing carmaker's only assembly plant.

Ssangyong has been under bankruptcy protection since March and the strikes have lowered its chances of survival, costing nearly 316 billion won (259 million dollars), the Yonhap news agency said.

About 4,000 riot police have raided one building after another that were held by dismissed workers who protested plans for massive job cuts.

The strike has turned the plant into a "hell of fire, smoke and battle scenes," local YTN television said.

Police dropped liquid tear gas from two helicopters on to the plant, located about 70 kilometres north of Seoul. YTN showed images of strikers armed with steel pipes and hurling Molotov cocktails, resisting the police assault.

The violence subsided in the afternoon, as police held off from moving into the last occupied paint shop for fear of flammable materials stored inside.

Hundreds of people protested against the police assault outside the plant.

A group of Ssangyong's suppliers said they will ask a bankruptcy court to liquidate the automaker to recover debts unless the occupation ends soon.

The occupation has crippled production at Ssangyong, as workers seek to halt a management plan to get rid of 36 per cent of its workforce after the automaker was placed into bankruptcy protection.

Its major stakeholder, China's Shanghai Automotive Industry, had to relinquish management control during the bankruptcy protection process.

Hundreds of dismissed union members have occupied the factory in Pyeongtaek since May 21. (dpa)