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| Candles will continue to burn at the fifth anti-Park rally on Saturday as protesters call for President Park Geun-hye to step down over a corruption scandal. The photo shows protesters at the third anti-Park rally on Nov. 12, at which over 1 million people held candles in Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square. / Joint press corps |
By Lee Jin-a
About 2 million men, women and children are expected to attend Saturday's anti-government rallies across Korea, demanding President Park Geun-hye resign over her snowballing corruption scandal.
The fifth mass anti-Park rally will be held at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul and at about 50 other locations around the country. Organizers expect more than 1.5 million people will participate in Seoul and a total of 2 million nationwide.
"After 1 million citizens attended the rally in Seoul on Nov. 12, another 1 million people took to the streets across the country on Nov. 19," a rally organizer said Wednesday. "We expect more than 2 million candles will be held at the rallies on Saturday."
From 1 p.m. Saturday, people will gather at Cheonggye and Seoul Plaza to begin a march to the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, at 4 p.m. Organizers are planning to create a "human chain" around the office for two hours until the main protest starts at 6 p.m. in Gwanghwamun Square.
Even though police have stopped such protests near Cheong Wa Dae, organizers said they will apply for an injunction to neutralize the decision. They said people should be free to hold a rally in locations about 100 meters from Cheong Wa Dae.
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| Farmers on tractors and cultivators pass through Yesan County, South Chungcheong Province, 100 kilometers south of Seoul, Wednesday, to attend anti-Park rallies on Friday and Saturday. / Yonhap |
Meanwhile, other anti-Park rallies are planned.
Farmers from the National Farmers Federation are driving 1,000 tractors and cultivators toward Seoul to participate in their rally against the government on Friday. They will join the mass anti-Park rally on Saturday.
Students from about 20 colleges, including the Seoul National University, will boycott all classes from Nov. 30, calling for Park to step down.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the country's second-largest umbrella labor union, said members will hold a general strike on Nov. 30 to demand Park's resignation.
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