Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Seoul on Saturday for the latest massive rally to demand President Park Geun-hye's resignation over the growing scandal involving her close confidante. About 850,000 people joined the candlelight rally at Gwanghwamun and a public square near Seoul City Hall as of 6:30 p.m., according to organizers. Police said 220,000 people gathered as of 5:30 p.m.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Seoul on Saturday for the latest massive rally to demand President Park Geun-hye’s resignation over the growing scandal involving her close confidante. About 850,000 people joined the candlelight rally at Gwanghwamun and a public square near Seoul City Hall as of 6:30 p.m., according to organizers. Police said 220,000 people gathered as of 5:30 p.m. The number surpasses 170,000 originally expected by police. Organizers forecast up to 1 million people will turn out. It is the largest rally to be held in South Korea this century to date. Police said they deployed some 25,000 officers to prevent potential violence. The previous record was set in June 2008 when 80,000 people, based on police calculations, turned out for a rally in Seoul against the government decision to resume U.S. beef imports. Organizers then put the number at 700,000. Major streets near Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, were packed with citizens – men and women, young and old – holding banners that said “Step down Park Geun-hye!” and chanting slogans against the current administration.
Three opposition parties joined the rally, along with some potential presidential hopefuls, including Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon of the Democratic Party. A 72-year-old housewife Lee Kwang-ja and her husband were among the protesters there with their families and friends. “I was born in 1944 and I have lived through the democratization of this country which I was pretty proud about,” Lee told Yonhap News Agency. “But now, I feel so embarrassed as an older generation. I cannot look at these young folks,” she said, referring to students who took part in the protest. Ban, who asked to be identified only by her last name, was one of many parents who brought their kids to the massive rally, saying they wanted to show their kids history in the making. “Instead of teaching them the values and history of this country through textbooks in classrooms, I wanted them to be here and feel them themselves,” she said. Saturday’s rally, organized by more than 1,500 liberal and progressive civic groups, is the latest in a series of massive rallies against the conservative Park, whose presidency has been shaken by the allegations that she was negligent in keeping her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil from abusing power from behind the scenes.
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