Thousands of supporters of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye rallied for her to be released from jail on corruption allegations
SEOUL, South Korea — Waving the national flag, the U. S. stars and stripes and shouting military-style slogans, tens of thousands of supporters of arrested former South Korean President Park Geun-hye rallied Saturday for her to be released from detention on corruption allegations.
Park was jailed Friday over allegations that she colluded with a confidante to extort money from businesses, take bribes and allow the friend to unlawfully interfere with state affairs. The Constitutional Court ruled March 10 to remove her from office after she was impeached in December.
Reflecting a nation deeply split over its future, Park’s opponents held their own protests in nearby streets, celebrating her arrest and calling for her conservative policies to be erased. Seoul police used thousands of police officers and hundreds of buses to separate the two crowds, whose rallies have divided the city’s streets in recent months.
Park’s arrest marked a stunning fall for South Korea’s first female president, who convincingly defeated her liberal opponent in 2012 thanks to overwhelming support from conservative older voters, who remembered her dictator father as a hero who rebuilt a nation devastated by a 1950-53 war with North Korea.
