Pro-Yoon protests shrink substantially after impeachment verdict

Following the Friday verdict by the Constitutional Court expelling Yoon Suk Yeol from the presidency, far-right activist and pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon called for 30 million people to gather to protest the decision.

According to police estimates, 18,000 people showed up to the Saturday protest led by Jeon. Organizers claimed it was a million, and had reported to the authorities that 200,000 were expected to participate.

A significant number of protesters filled the streets of Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, but calls for protection of the former president have subsided substantially after the court ruling that made Yoon the second president ever to be ousted via impeachment.

Save Korea, a right-leaning Christian group that had notified the authorities of a Saturday protest of 20,000 in Seoul, cancelled the demonstration shortly after the Constitutional Court ruling. Reporters stationed at the official presidential residence in Hannam-dong -- which had been packed with Yoon supporters before the verdict -- had said the area was mostly empty as of Sunday morning.

Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee are to move out of the official residence to their personal residence, with the former first couple yet to state when they will vacate the premises.

At protests on March 1 in Seoul, the crowds of Yoon supporters surpassed the police-estimated 120,000 participants, with Save Korea hosting an event in Yeouido, near the National Assembly, that drew 55,000. Scores of lawmakers with Yoon's People Power Party joined the demonstrations, including multiple-term legislators Kim Gi-hyeon, Na Kyung-won, Yoon Sang-hyun and former party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho.

South Koreans both supporting and opposing Yoon's impeachment did hold rallies across Seoul on Saturday, but on a much smaller scale than before. Pro-impeachment demonstrators on Friday were seen removing the tents they had set up at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul for long-term demonstrations, which had been held since shortly after Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3.

Those who attended the pro-Yoon rallies over the weekend appeared angered by the court ruling. They voiced their discontent with the National Assembly that passed the impeachment motion and the Constitutional Court for upholding it, even denying the authority of the court and the legitimacy of the upcoming election to choose a new president.

Jeon urged participants to prepare a "revolution" against what he claimed was an unjust decision by the court, telling protesters to each send text messages protesting the impeachment to 10 acquaintances. Jeon claimed that Yoon's approval rating is "actually over 70 percent," and he himself has been cleared of all charges related to Yoon's alleged insurrection.

Yoon's approval rating peaked at 53 percent in June 2022, according to Gallup Korea, but by the week after his martial law declaration in December 2024 had fallen to 11 percent. Jeon is still under investigation for suspicion of inciting the Jan. 19 attack on the Seoul Western District Court, which left scores of police officers and civilians injured.