Counting 1 Million Crowds at Anti-President Rallies in Seoul

Saturday’s protest may beat the organisers’ expectation given that the previous four rallies ended in an orderly and peaceful manner.

The huge demonstrations, which began five weeks ago, are the largest in South Korea since the pro-democracy protests in the 1980s. If she does not resign, reports say her opponents are planning to seek impeachment.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye will not respond to prosecutors’ request to question her, her lawyer said on Monday, amid a deepening political crisis over a scandal involving her old friend accused of meddling in state affairs.

Prosecutors last week formally charged her with abuse of power and coercion, saying Ms Park was a “co-culprit” who had colluded with Choi to strong-arm top firms into giving cash to non-profit foundations that Choi controlled.

Protesters holding candles marched through the capital late into the night.

He was one of hundreds of thousands of South Koreans who marched on Saturday in streets near Seoul’s presidential palace, where Park is bracing for what’s likely to be a bitter and prolonged fight against lawmakers who may attempt to impeach her as early as next week.

“I came here because I wanted to show my children that it’s the people who own this country, not those in power”, Shim Kyu-Il, a 47-year-old company employee, told AFP.

While South Korea’s constitution does not allow a ruling president to be prosecuted, under a new law passed by opposition parties using their parliamentary majority on 17 November, it is possible that Geun-hye could be impeached for breaking the law. Park can not be indicted while in office, but she has been officially identified as a criminal suspect, which had never happened to a president before.

Park’s office was encircled by a chain of protesters in three sides along the outskirts of the Blue House to form a so-called “human chain” for about two hours. In surveys, Ms. Park’s approval rating has sunk to 4%.

Around 60 other protests around the country have been held.

The presidential scandal started when CNN South Korean affiliate JTBC found evidence that Choi had received secret documents on an abandoned tablet device.

Calling yesterday a “perfect day for Park to step down”, People’s Party’s floor leader Park Jie-won wrote on his Facebook page that the opposition will submit the impeachment motion on Dec 2 or Dec 9. The Constitutional Court would need to approve the impeachment.