- Title: Tens of thousands protest in South Korea, call for president to quit
- Date: 5th November 2016
- Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (NOVEMBER 5, 2016) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** PEOPLE GATHERED FOR CANDLELIGHT PROTEST PROTESTERS MARCHING VARIOUS OF BANNER, READING (Korean): "IS IT A COUNTRY? / PARK GEUN-HYE RESIGN" VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING / SIGNS POLICE OFFICERS STANDING POLICE OFFICER MORE OF MARCHING FAMILY OF PROTESTERS HOLDING CANDLES, MARCHING PROTESTERS HOLDING CANDLES, READING (Korean): "STEP DOWN" PROTESTERS HOLDING POSTERS, READING (Korean): "PARK GEUN-HYE STEP DOWN" MORE OF MARCH (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN PROTEST LEADER, AHN JIN-GEOL SAYING: "Due to the false apology, the anger of the people has grown a lot bigger. So from middle and high school students to the seniors, approximately 200,000 people have participated in the protest today, stating President Park Geun-Hye is no longer our president and she should step down immediately." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING PROTESTERS PREPARING PAPER CUPS WITH CANDLE PAPER CUPS WITH CANDLE ON DESK, READING (Korean): "PARK GEUN-HYE RESIGN" VARIOUS OF MORE OF PROTESTERS CHANTING
- Embargoed: 20th November 2016 13:31
- Keywords: South Korea Seoul rally protest President Park Geun-hye resignation
- Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
- City: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
- Country: South Korea
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0015762XJB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Tens of thousands of South Koreans protested in central Seoul on Saturday (November 5) in one the largest demonstrations in the country's capital for years, calling on embattled President Park Geun-hye to resign over a growing influence-peddling scandal.
Roughly 43,000 people were at the candle-lit rally early on Saturday evening, according to police. Organisers said a growing crowd of 100,000 had assembled, making the protest one of the biggest since demonstrations in 2008 against U.S. beef imports.
One organiser put the number at closer to 200,000.
Park Geun-hye has been rocked by a scandal involving an old friend who is alleged to have used her closeness to the president to meddle in state affairs. Park has pledged to cooperate with prosecutors in an investigation.
Koreans have been angered by the revelations and say Park, the latest South Korean leader to be embroiled in a scandal involving family or friends, has betrayed public trust and mismanaged her government.
Her approval rating has slipped to just 5 percent according to a Gallup poll released on Friday (November 4), the lowest number for a South Korean president since such polling began in 1988.
Police said they had deployed 17,600 officers and 220 units including buses and mobile barriers to Saturday's protest.
Police in riot gear lined the alleys and streets leading to the presidential Blue House as the main body of the demonstration began the march through central Seoul.
Park has sacked many of her immediate advisers over the crisis. A former aide, Jeong Ho-seong, was arrested on Thursday (November 3) on suspicion of leaking classified information, a prosecution official told Reuters.
No South Korean president has ever failed to finish their five-year term, but Park has faced growing pressure from the public and political opponents to quit. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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