Protesters hold massive rally without major clash with police

Protesters are marching along Daehangno from Seoul Plaza in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Saturday. Jongno district saw heavy traffic congestion due to the protesters who marched on roads. / Yonhap

Tens of thousands of protesters held a massive rally on Saturday afternoon to protest the government’s move to adopt state-authored history textbooks and push for labor reform. The protest reportedly progressed without any clash between participants and police, Yonhap news agency said.

Some 14,000 protesters gathered at Seoul Plaza in central Seoul to hold the rally, following their first massive rally held at the same place on Nov. 14. With the first rally having turned violent as protesters and police physically clashed, the second rally had the public worry whether it would turn as violent as the first one.

Organizers of the rally on Saturday vowed to hold the rally in a peaceful manner, while police also warned that they will take stern action if the rally turns violent.

An association of progressive civic groups reportedly said they plan to march toward a hospital where the 69-year-old farmer is being hospitalized after he got sprayed by police’s water cannons in the first massive rally in November. The farmer still remains in critical condition, the report added.

"The people's rally on Nov. 14 was so just," Han Sang-gyun, the head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Korea's umbrella labor group, said in a video message played in front of the protesters as they kicked off the march. "The oppressive government cannot stop our fight. Let's march in a stately and resolute manner."

About 30 opposition lawmakers, including Moon Jae-in, chairman of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, watched the rally at Seoul Plaza and said the protest would hopefully be peaceful.

"Today should be the starting point of setting up a culture of peaceful rallies," Moon said.

Around 500 religious leaders and followers from the nation’s five religious groups held a joint service at Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul, praying that the protest would be peaceful.