South Koreans stage biggest rally yet to oust president
FOR Lee Hyo-shin, a South Korean farmer, demanding the ousting of the country’s president meant a slow and gruelling 10-day journey on a vehicle unable to move faster than 12 miles per hour.
He was one of hundreds of thousands of South Koreans who marched yesterday in the streets near Seoul’s presidential palace, where Park Geun-hye is preparing for what is likely to be a long, bitter fight with politicians, who may try to impeach her as early as next week.
Prosecutors accuse Mrs Park of assisting the criminal activities of a secretive confidante who allegedly manipulated power from the shadows and blackmailed companies to build an illicit fortune.
Police said 270,000 people took part in the fifth weekend of massive protests, making it the largest rally yet. Organisers put the turnout at 1.5 million.
“The fatigue is really starting to kick in,” said Mr Lee, 53, who, while leading a convoy of farmers, travelled 186 miles on his tractor before police stopped the vehicles near Seoul.
“Pulling Park down isn’t going to be easy, but we farmers are good at injecting energy into demonstrations.”
Thousands of people marched, carrying signs and flags, before turning a boulevard into a sea of light, waving candles and singing and shouting for Mrs Park’s removal.
The country’s largest opposition party says it will seek to propose an impeachment motion by Dec 9.
Some members of Mrs Park’s conservative party support an impeachment attempt, arguing it would serve the party’s interests to distance itself from her before next year’s presidential election. The massive rallies in recent weeks have been mostly peaceful, but there was tension on Friday night as police clashed with hundreds of members of the Korean Peasant League who had planned to roll into the capital in motorcades of tractors and lorries. Several farmers were injured.
Police blocked the vehicles after a court ruled that the farmers should not be allowed to park or drive them in rally areas.