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Civic groups demonstrated on Oct. 21 in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Plaza a week before the first anniversary of the candlelight protests. The group April 16 Alliance is calling a for a second special commission to re-investigate the Sewol sinking and special legislation to look into the truth about social tragedies. (by Lim Jae–woo

The candles are burning once again in downtown Seoul, one week before the first anniversary of the candlelit rallies that led to the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye. Another large rally will be held on Oct. 28, when the people who proclaimed democracy a year before will come together once again.

On the evening of Oct. 21, members of the April 16 Alliance held a candlelit rally on the southern plaza of Gwanghwamun, Seoul, where they called for the establishment of a second special commission to investigate the Sewol sinking and for special legislation to look into the truth about social tragedies.

During the event, Jang Hun, chair of the investigation subcommittee with 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and a Safer Society, took the stage to urge those present to take part in the campaign. “Even if a second special commission is established and the special [legislation] is passed, I will never be able to see Jun-hyeong again for the rest of my life. I think the only way I’ll be able to tell him I did a good job when I get to heaven is if the investigation is carried out and the guilty parties are held responsible,” said Jang, the father of Jun-hyeong, one of the victims of the Sewol tragedy.

This candlelight rally marks the beginning of a series of rallies that the April 16 Alliance will be holding at Gwanghwamun Plaza every Saturday until Nov. 25. The group will be focusing on establishing a second special commission during this period and collecting signatures as part of this campaign at various parts of Seoul, including Seoul Station and City Hall Plaza.

Emergency Citizen Action for the Resignation of Park Geun-hye, which organized the large candlelit rallies last year, will also be doing its part to commemorate the first anniversary of the rallies. Following a press conference declaring “the candlelight rallies’ first anniversary” on the stairs of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 23, the group’s Records and Commemoration Committee will be organizing a large rally on Gwanghwamun Plaza on Oct. 28 titled “Gathering on the Candlelit Rallies’ First Anniversary: The Candles Will Go On.”

From the first candlelit rally on Oct. 29, 2016, until the 23rd rally this past April, a total of 16 million people participated in the demonstrations. “The candlelight rally on the first anniversary of the rallies will be an opportunity to commemorate the struggle that revived democracy when it was dying out and to confirm the will to eliminate corrupt practices and carry out major social reforms as the people have commanded,” the group said.

Meanwhile, on Oct. 21, members of conservative organizations in support of Park Geun-hye held a large rally at Marronnier Park in the Daehangno neighborhood of Seoul. They called for Park’s release from detention and fiercely condemned the Liberty Korea Party for adopting a disciplinary measure advising Park to leave the party.

By Hwang Keum-bi and Kim Yang-jin, staff reporters

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