Candlelight will dispel darkness
The 1.7 million candles at the anti-government protest in central Seoul Saturday evening were put out simultaneously for one minute at 7 p.m.
It was a symbolic move to call for the truth about President Park Geun-hye’s seven-hour absence from duty right after the Sewol ferry sinking on April 16, 2014.
The “seven missing hours” is only part of numerous allegations the President is facing. Public demands for her to resign over the influence-scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil show no signs of subsiding, with the number of candles only growing.
After a local court allowed protesters to march up to 100 meters from Cheong Wa Dae, the closest ever to the presidential office, bereaved family members of the Sewol disaster led the march.
“We pleaded for the President to meet us, but it took two years and eight months for us to arrive 100 meters in front of Cheong Wa Dae,” said Yoo Kyeong-keun, the committee head of the Sewol Families for Truth and a Safer Society.
The family members have staged protests since the incident, attempting to reach Cheong Wa Dae to have their voice heard by the President, but were blocked from going further. They staged a 76 day sit-in in front of the Cheongun Hyoja-dong Community Center, which is 200 meters from Cheong Wa Dae, from August to October in 2014.
Their march was followed by hundreds of thousands of other citizens. Despite the huge crowd, participants — as they did in the previous five rallies — expressed their anger in peaceful ways.
Protesters demanded that special prosecutor Park Young-soo uncover the truth behind Park’s whereabouts during the Sewol tragedy.
Jung Mi-jung, from Jindo, South Jeolla Province, said, ”The special prosecutor’s priority is unveiling the truth behind the seven missing hours on the day of Sewol tragedy.”
She also said the ruling Saenuri Party should be held accountable for co-conspiring with Park in the corruption scandal.
Jung added that the candlelit rallies will play a role in helping clean up the systemic corruption in all of society. “We should clean out the collaborators who back up this corrupt system.”
Protesters said they will continue to join the rally until Park steps down. They warned that the people will keep their eyes peeled to watch who does not follow their mandate.
“I took to the street rally in 1987 uprising against the then military regime, and the scale of anger is way larger than that time,” said Kim Seong-ho, 53. “The anti-Park faction in the Saenuri Party should recover their conscience. If the National Assembly fails to pass impeachment, every lawmaker must abandon their position.”
While the streets were lit up with candles and warmed up with angry protesters’ chants and performances, the presidential office remained unlit and calm, as if the people inside it were trying to ignore what was happening outside.