AFP, SEOUL: Hundreds of thousands of protestors marched in Seoul for the sixth-straight week Saturday to demand the ouster and arrest of scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye ahead of an impeachment vote in parliament. Organisers claimed a turnout of more than one million for the candlelight rally in the South Korean capital, while police put the number at just over 200,000.
It was the latest in a series of massive anti-Park demonstrations and came just hours after opposition parties filed an impeachment motion that will be put to a vote by lawmakers on Friday.
Whether the motion is adopted or not, Park is firmly on course to become the first democratically-elected South Korean president not to complete a full, five-year term. The 64-year-old stands accused of colluding with an old friend who has been formally indicted for attempted fraud and abuse of power. Along with the now-normal slogans for Park to step down, there were growing calls at Saturday’s rally for her to face criminal charges, arrest and imprisonment.