Published : Nov. 26, 2016 - 13:37
A total of 1.9 million South Koreans took to the streets Saturday to call on President Park Geun-hye to step down.
Their objections to her leadership center on a scandal involving her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.
Choi is accused of using her connections to pocket funds from state-run foundations, get her daughter into a prestigious university and interfere with state affairs, including by editing key presidential speeches.
Organizers said 1.6 million people attended the Seoul rally, while 300,000 more took part in other demonstrations around the country.
Below is a timeline of events at the Seoul rally. -- Ed.
12:00 a.m.
The protesters plan to keep going until the early hours of the morning, but most of them have gone home. A few thousand have gathered on Gwanghwamun Square, where performers are still singing.
10:40 p.m.
Candle holders bearing the message "Can we call this a country?" - a popular protest slogan during the ralies against President Park Geun-hye (Jo He-rim/The Korea Herald)
The protest is still ongoing, with cultural performances from bands such as NoBrain playing on Gwanghwamun Square.
Nearer Cheong Wa Dae, protesters are peacefully confronting police, singing and chanting, and making speeches from the top of vehicles.
Police are requesting the crowd not to push, citing safety concerns, to boos from the crowd.
9:30 p.m
Citizens and police face each other about 200 meters from Cheong Wa Dae as the protesters try to get closer to the presidential palace. (Son Ji-hyoung/The Korea Herald)
Protesters have been keen to act against any sign of violence. When signs of a Protesters have been keen to act against any sign of violence. When signs of a possible flare up appear protesters chant "no violence!"
The protesters plan to reconvene at Gwanghwamun Square at 11 p.m.
Protest organizers put the total number of protesters at 1.9 million nationwide, with 1.5 million in Seoul. The crowd is slowly shrinking with people heading home in drips and drabs.
8:25 p.m.
Flower stickers cover a police bus during the mass rally on Saturday night. (Ock Hyun-ju/The Korea Herald)
Protesters are attaching flower stickers to the police buses blocking off access to Cheong Wa Dae. The stickers appeared last week, paid for through arts crowdfunding site 7Pictures. The stickers were artist Lee Gang-hun’s idea to resist the police by turning the wall of buses into a “wall of flowers.”
After last week’s protest, some protesters volunteered to remove them again. Korean National Police Agency chief Lee Chul-sung said he would tolerate the use of flower stickers, citing the title of a book – "Don’t Hit People, Even With a Flower."
7:50 p.m.
In Gwanghwamun, the heart of Seoul, over 1 million South Koreans are waving candles and singing along to legendary folk singer Yang Hee-eun’s “Morning Dew,” as the fifth massive weekend rally against President Park Geun-hye reaches its climax. Tens of thousands more are joining the rally at 60 other locations across the country.
6:50 p.m.
(Lim Jeong-yeo/ The Korea Herald)
Organizers’ tally of participants in the Gwanghwamun rally surpassed 800,000 as of 6:30 p.m.
“I am so proud that I am raising my voice against President Park Geun-hye. We elected Park to represent us, not for her to abuse power," said Kang Geum-sook, 50, who came with her daughter.
The Gwanghwamun Square has turned into a river of candlelights and a massive outdoor concert venue with folk singer Ahn Chi-hwan performing.
4 p.m.
Protesters marching toward Cheong Wa Dae (Ock Hyun-ju/The Korea Herald)
Protesters start marching toward Cheong Wa Dae – the presidential palace. The snow has stopped, but the temperature is down to to zero. Despite the weather, the mood here is festive.
Jung Young-hoon, a 36-year-old father of two, said he travelled from Changwon to join the protest.
“It is difficult to take care of my children on the street during the rally, especially because of the weather, but it is peaceful, so it’s okay. I had to come to show them this is democracy. My children are young, but they will lead the future of this country.”
Protesters are to march as close as just 200 meters from Cheong Wa Dae – the closest that Korean authorities have ever allowed to any kind of protest. They plan to completely surround Park’s office and shout “Park Geun-hye, Resign!”
3:30 p.m.
Pro-Park protesters wave the national flags at a rally in Daegu on Saturday afternoon. (Yonhap)
Staunch supporters of President Park Geun-hye rallied at Seoul and the southern city of Daegu from 1 p.m. to counter today’s anti-Park protests across the country.
Some 100 gathered at Seoul Station, while in Daegu, Park’s political home turf, about 400 – mostly senior citizens – showed up.
“I am here to protect President Park, who is innocent, from groundless accusations made by North Korean followers,” one of the participants said.
2:38 p.m.
Former Democratic Party of Korea leader Moon Jae-in shields composer Kim Hyeong-seok at a "piano rally" in Hongdae.
(Jo He-rim/The Korea Herald)
Opposition politician and potential presidential candidate Moon Jae-in was in Hongdae just now, speaking at a piano concert organized as a precursor event to the main candlelight vigil in Gwanghwamun in the evening.
Between piano performances by composer Kim Hyeong-sok and citizens, he criticized President Park’s actions, saying she must be “on another planet” to be thinking the way she does.
“The president’s chief of staff said that the president is working from morning to night, so wherever she is, she is at her workplace," he said. “Is that acceptable? If she is playing golf, are the golf links her place of work? Even apart from the missing 7 hours on the day of the Sewol’s sinking, she has been absent from work many times.”