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The eighth candlelight rally calling for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye took place in central Seoul on Dec. 17. With conservative groups holding counter protests opposing Park’s impeachment, the police worked hard to prevent a clash between the two groups.

On at 5 pm, the Emergency Public Campaign for the Impeachment of Park Geun-hye gathered at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul to kick off the rally, which they called “the day of dealing with chronic social problems, punishing the accomplices and calling on Park to step down at once.” In light of the cold weather, there was only a concert before the main event, without a preliminary march. Protesters slammed Park for stating in her response to the Constitutional Court the day before that “there was no reason to impeach her” and demanded her immediate resignation. They also urged the Constitutional Court to swiftly review the motion of impeachment.

“The people’s only demand is for Park Geun-hye to step down immediately. Prime Minister Hwang Gyo-ahn needs to resign at once instead of acting like the president and continuing the Park administration without Park, and the Constitutional Court needs to quickly remove Park without wavering for an instant,” the protest organizers said.

The organizers estimated that a total of 650,000 protesters had come to Gwanghwamun by 8 pm. The police reportedly calculated that a maximum of 40,000 people were present at any one time (as of 5 pm). After the main event concluded around 6:30 pm, the protesters marched in four directions toward the Blue House, the Office of the Prime Minister and the Constitutional Court. Upon completing their march, the groups returned to Gwanghwamun Square around 8 pm to hold a concluding assembly. 120,000 people participated in protests outside of Seoul, including 50,000 in Busan and 30,000 in Gwangju.

Conservative groups who are opposed to the impeachment held counter protests. A group of about 50 organizations who want Park’s impeachment to be overturned including the Association for President Park Chung-hee and First Lady Yuk Young-soo held a protest against the impeachment around Samil Street in front of Anguk Station in the Jongno District of Seoul, near the Constitutional Court, on the morning of Dec. 17.

“President Park was unfairly impeached because of sensational media reports and North Korean sympathizers. The leftists need to stop blackmailing the Constitutional Court, and the Constitutional Court needs to overturn the impeachment and make a just ruling that will go down in history,” the protesters said. The organizers said that 1 million people participated in the protest, while the police reportedly calculated that there were a maximum of 30,000 people present at any given time.

Moms Brigade and other conservative groups held a similar protest at a park in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and castigated the National Assembly for passing the motion of impeachment.

“The National Assembly made a mistake when it passed the impeachment last week, and the Constitutional Court is definitely going to overturn it. The leftists’ propaganda would have you think that the entire South Korean public has abandoned Park. We have to show the justices that there are still this many people who haven’t abandoned her for them to make the right ruling without wavering,” said Saenuri Party lawmaker Rep. Kim Jin-tae, who attended this event.

Kim also mentioned the fact that Jung Woo-taek, a lawmaker from the pro-Park wing of the Saenuri Party, had been elected as the party’s floor leader the previous day. “Fortunately, the election for the floor leader turned out well. If the election yesterday had turned out otherwise, it would have completely ended the legacy of the conservative party that founded the Republic of Korea, achieved industrialization and brought democracy to this land,” Jung said.

After urging the Constitutional Court to overturn the motion of impeachment, the protesters marched to Seoul Station. The police deployed 228 security units (containing more than 18,200 officers) in central Seoul on Dec. 17 to maintain safety and to prevent altercations between the two groups of protesters. While the two groups screamed at each other while they were marching, no major clashes occurred.

By Park Su-ji and Ko Han-sol, staff reporters

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