Thousands rally in South Korea demanding Moon to step down
President offers talks with Japan to resolve a biter feud over wartime grievances, calls on Pyongyang to respond to Seoul’s proposals for bilateral ties and resumption of reunions between relatives
Thousands of anti-government protesters, armed with umbrellas and raincoats, marched through the soggy streets of South Korea’s capital on Saturday, ignoring official pleas to stay home amid a surge in coronavirus infections.
It appeared that at least several were detained ater scuffles with police, which deployed about 6,000 officers to closely follow the protesters in streets near Seoul’s presidential palace.
There were no immediate reports of major clashes or injuries. Officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency did not immediately say how many protesters were taken into custody.
South Korea reported 166 new cases on Saturday, the highest daily figure since early March, bringing the country’s total infections to 15,039 with 305 deaths.
South Korea stands at a “critical juncture” in the batle to control the coronavirus surge, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a government response meeting.
“Our top priority is to contain the spread of the virus in the greater Seoul area.”
A majority of the new cases came from the greater Seoul region -- home to half of the country’s 51 million people.
Municipal officials in Seoul had sought to forbid the slew of rallies planned by conservative activists and Christian groups for a holiday celebrating the 75th anniversary of the nation’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II.
But a court allowed some of them to go on, citing civil liberties ater protesters challenged the city’s administrative order banning the gatherings.
The demonstrators, many of them wearing masks and carrying the South Korean flag, paraded through rain near Seoul’s presidential palace, calling for Moon to step down over what they see as kowtowing to North Korea, policy failures, corruption and election fraud.
Some of the marchers came from a church in northern Seoul that was shut down ater it was linked to dozens of infections. Health officials are planning to isolate and test some 4,000 members of the church, led by ultraconservative pastor Jun Kwang-hun, a vocal critic of Moon who has emerged as a leader of anti-government protests over the past months.
“We gathered together today to take back the Republic of Korea” from “criminal” Moon, Jun shouted from a stage during Saturday’s protest, referring to South Korea’s formal name.
While announcing stronger distancing measures for the Seoul metropolitan area, Health Minister Park Neung-hoo lamented that transmissions stemming from religious gatherings were now spreading more broadly across the capital region.
The two-week measures starting on Sunday will allow authorities in Seoul and towns in neighbouring Gyeonggi Province to shut down high-risk facilities such as nightclubs, karaoke rooms, movie theaters and buffet restaurants if they fail to properly enforce preventive measures, including distancing, temperatures checks, keeping customer lists and requiring masks.
Fans will once again be banned from professional baseball and soccer, just a few weeks ater health authorities allowed teams to let in spectators for a portion of their seats in each game. Moon on Saturday offered talks with Japan to resolve a biter feud over wartime grievances as the nation celebrated the 75th anniversary of its liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II.
In a nationally televised speech, Moon said that his government has “let the door of consultations wide open” for Japan to setle a long legal and diplomatic dispute over compensation for Koreans who had been subjected to forced labor at mines, factories and other sites.
Moon, who tempered his words, avoided direct criticism of the conservative Japanese government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
“Our government is ready to sit face-to-face with the Japanese government at any time” to find a mutual solution the victims can support, Moon said. He said the process would help build a “bridge of friendship and future cooperation” between the countries.
Tokyo didn’t immediately respond to Moon’s comments.