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Opposition parties to join anti-Park rally Saturday

Nov. 9, 2016 - 17:52 By Jo He-rim
South Korea’s three biggest opposition parties said Wednesday they will participate in the upcoming anti-government rally scheduled for Saturday, upping the ante against the beleaguered President Park Geun-hye.

They also decided to nix the conservative leader’s proposal a day earlier that the National Assembly field a prime minister candidate that she would appoint, whoever it was.

Meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, the party chiefs -- Rep. Choo Mi-ae of the Democratic Party of Korea, Rep. Park Jie-won of the People’s Party and Shim Sang-jung of the Justice Party -- urged the president to make clear whether she intends to step aside from state affairs, relinquishing power to the new prime minister.
Reps. Park Jie-won of the People's Party, Choo Mi-ae of the Democratic Party of Korea and Shim Sang-jung of the Justice Party hold a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday. (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)
“President Park has lost legitimacy to rule, whether it is domestic or external affairs,” said Rep. Choo.

The party leaders reiterated their united front to push for a special probe by an independent counsel, separate from the ongoing prosecutorial investigation over the unravelling scandal regarding the conservative president and her 40-year confidante Choi Soon-sil.

The Democratic Party of Korea, the biggest opposition party, had previously planned to hold a separate demonstration with party members Saturday, but decided to join the rally organized by civic and labor groups, which is expected to draw a large crowd to Seoul’s Gwanghwamun area.

“The upcoming rally is important as citizens will gather to voice their opinions,” Democratic Party’s spokesperson Yoon Gwan-seok said.

At last Saturday’s rally, over 200,000 people turned up at Gwanghwamun Square. It was the biggest anti-Park demonstration to be held since the scandal broke out.

More are expected to gather this week.

By Jo He-rim(herim@heraldcorp.com)