Protests For Competitiveness Over South Korean President Yoon's Impeachment Held In Seoul

Pro and anti-Yoon Suk Yeol demonstrations were held in Gwanghwamun and near Gyeongbok Palace (doc. Yonhap).

The demonstrators who support and oppose South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a demonstration several hundred meters away in Seoul on Saturday, December 21, 2024, local time.

The demonstration was held just a week after President Yoon was impeached for a military emergency declaration that took effect in a short time.

Yoon's power was suspended, but he remains in office. He has not complied with calls from authorities investigating whether the martial law, which he declared at the end of December 3, 2024, was an uprising.

He has also not responded to efforts to contact him by the Constitutional Court, which decided whether to remove him from office or restore power to his presidency.

The court plans to hold its first preparatory hearing on Friday, December 27, 2024.

Pro and anti-Yoon demonstrations on Saturday, December 21, 2024, were held in Gwanghwamun, the heart of the capital. There were no clashes until 4 pm.

Tens of thousands of anti-Yoon protesters, dominated by people in their 20s and 30s, gathered around 3pm, waving K-Pop lightssticks and posters reading like "Arrest! Go to jail! The head of the rebellion Yoon Suk Yeol" was accompanied by an interesting K-pop song.

"I want to ask Yoon how he could do this to democracy in the 21st century. I think if he really has a conscience, he should step down," said 27-year-old protester Cho Sung-hyo.

Several thousand pro-Yoon protesters, especially older and more conservative people who opposed Yoon's dismissal and supported his recovery, have gathered since around noon.

"This fraudulent general election (partlemen) eats away at this country. In essence, it is the socialist power of communists. So, about 10 of us gathered and said the same thing. We are really against impeachment," said Lee Young-su, a 62-year-old businessman.

Yoon has cited claims of election hacking and anti-state North Korean pro-core sympathizers as justification for imposing martial law, which the National General Elections Commission has denied.