Protests heat up over Park's impeachment

Left: Protesters call for the Constitutional Court to make a swift ruling on President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment at a rally in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Saturday. Right: Members of pro-Park conservative groups call for Park’s impeachment to be nullified at Seoul Plaza in central Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap

By Kim Bo-eun

This year’s largest protests took place Saturday, as the masses gathered in central Seoul to support or fight President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment.

Despite the bitter cold, with temperatures falling to minus 6 degrees Celsius, protesters set out to make their voices heard, as the Constitutional Court's ruling on Park’s impeachment approaches.

Participants in support of the impeachment demanded the ruling be made by the end of this month. They also called for the independent counsel investigating the scandal involving Park and her confidant Choi Soon-sil to file for an extension of its probe, as its investigation period is set to expire at the end of this month.

“Park is attempting to wait out the counsel team’s investigation conclusions on Feb. 28, and the retirement of Justice Lee Jung-mi on March 13, with hopes that the impeachment will be rejected,” said Kim Kyung-ja, vice-chairperson of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

The Constitutional Court needs at least seven judges to take part in the ruling and six of them need to support the impeachment for it to be accepted. However, the panel, which originally consists of nine members, is currently down to eight after former court president Park Han-chul retired last month, and the court’s acting president, Justice Lee Jung-mi, will retire on March 13. This is why voices are calling for the ruling to be made before Lee’s retirement, as with only seven judges, there will be a higher likelihood of the impeachment being rejected.

Organizers of the weekly Saturday protests estimated around 750,000 people took part in the rally in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, and over 800,000 nationwide.

Meanwhile, at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall, pro-Park protesters gathered calling for the impeachment to be rejected, and the counsel team to be disbanded.

“The candlelit rallies only represent the hopes of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK),” said Chung Kwan-young, head of pro-Park group Park Sa Mo, accusing the opposition’s support of the protests as politically motivated.

The opposition’s presidential race frontrunner Moon Jae-in, former DPK chairman, attended Saturday’s protest. Saenuri Party lawmakers including Rep. Kim Jin-tae also attended the counter-protest.

Pro-Park groups claimed 2.1 million gathered for their protest, but the figure has been exaggerated, as Seoul Plaza cannot accommodate such a large number.

Police mobilized 15,600 officers to the scene to prevent possible collisions between the opposing sides. Pro-Park rally participants reportedly hit a reporter in the face with their fists and flag poles, for taking a video of them.

Saturday’s rally marked the 15th consecutive weekly one since the first began on Oct. 29, after the influence-peddling scandal erupted.

The scale of the rallies is expected to grow this month, as the Constitutional Court’s ruling nears.