France, devastated by radical protests... The Louvre Museum is also closed.

(Brussels = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hyun Yun-kyung = In downtown Paris, France, which was devastated by large-scale protests last weekend, the Louvre Museum is also experiencing disruption in its operations.

The Louvre Museum told AFP on the 19th (local time) that the museum was unable to open as scheduled due to protesters blocking the entrance.

These protesters, led by students of the Ecole du Louvre, a culture and arts education institution located within the Louvre Museum, took action to support the high school students' protest that has been going on for over a month, demanding improvement of the poor educational environment, and to condemn the strong suppression of the police.

These protesters, who blocked the main entrance to the Louvre Museum with pickets and banners, expressed solidarity with the high school students who took to the streets instead of classrooms and protested against the government's austerity measures that cut the education budget.

Protesters also hung up leaflets outside the museum that read, "We are proud to announce that we are locking down the world's largest museum."

Meanwhile, in France, more than 2,300 people were arrested by police due to violent protests that swept across the country on the 17th, and more than 2,000 stores were damaged due to looting and arson by protesters.