SEOUL: More than half a million South Koreans marked New Year’s Eve with a massive protest Saturday (Dec 31) calling for the immediate arrest and ouster of impeached President Park Geun-Hye.
Candle-carrying and banner-waving protestors marched towards key buildings in Seoul including the presidential Blue House and the prime minister’s office.
Police figures were unavailable but organisers estimated crowd numbers to be more than 600,000.
« Park Geun-Hye step down. Go to prison now, » they chanted.
Parliament voted on Dec 9 to impeach Park over a corruption scandal in which she allegedly colluded with her friend, Choi Soon-Sil, to wrest donations from large conglomerates to two dubious foundations.
The case is now being considered by the Constitutional Court, which has up to 180 days to rule on the impeachment.
« I came here to help usher in a new year that has no Park Geun-Hye », Kang Jae-Chun, who was at the protest with his two children, told AFP.
