Nearly one million demonstrate against South Korea president in Seoul
Hundreds of thousands of people have held a demonstration in South Korea's capital, Seoul, urging the Constitutional Court to uphold a ruling on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.
Organizers of the demonstration in Gwanghwamun Square said about 900,000 people had turned up as of 7:30 p.m. local time on Saturday.
The candlelit march is one of the biggest since a scandal erupted last year involving Park and one of her close associates. The South Korean president is believed to have colluded with Choi Soon-sil to pressure large businesses in the country to donate to two funds established for supporting the government's policies.
The Constitutional Court will rule on whether to uphold the impeachment in the parliament. Park has written to the court, calling for the rejection of the motion. She has also rejected accusations of acting in self-interest while in office.
The case has gripped South Korea's flagship industrial conglomerate Samsung. Police arrested the company's head, Jay Y. Lee, in February and he is scheduled to face charges of bribery and embezzlement in a trial on March 9.
During the Saturday rally, protesters held candles in cups with words that read, "Arrest Park Geun-hye."
"I came here out of rage towards President Park Geun-hye, who has been enticing people with constant lies. Also the thought that Constitutional Court should rightly impeach (President Park) brought me here," a protester said.
South Korea will have to hold a new election in 60 days to pick a new president if the court upholds the impeachment or Park steps down voluntarily.
A potential new president will serve a single five-year term. Park's term was originally set to end in February 2018.
Nam Jung-Su, an anti-president protest leader, said the demonstrators had gathered to urge the court to push through the impeachment decision "with no hesitation."
Park would become the first democratically-elected president in South Korea's history to be removed from office.
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