Protest urges scandal-hit S Korea president to quit

Seoul /AFP

Tens of thousands of banner-waving protestors marched through the streets of Seoul on Saturday, demanding President Park Geun-Hye resign, a day after she apologised and accepted full blame for a crippling corruption scandal.
In one of the largest demonstrations seen in the South Korean capital in years, there was little sympathy for Park who, in an emotional televised address to the nation on Friday, had talked of her loneliness and “heartache” at the explosion of public anger in recent weeks.
“Her speech made me even more angry,” said Park Mee-Hee, 44, who was marching with her teenage daughter.
“She kept making ridiculous excuses as if she was totally innocent. She should step down right now,” she said.
The scandal has focused on a close personal friend of the president, Choi Soon-Sil, who has been arrested for fraud and also stands accused of meddling in state affairs—including official appointments and policy decisions—despite holding no official position.
The crisis has shattered public trust in Park’s judgement and leadership, and her approval rating has plunged to just five percent—a record low for a sitting president. Police said more than 40,000 had turned out for Saturday’s candlelight rally —more than double the size of a similar anti-Park protest the week before. Organisers said the number was closer to 200,000, after a Seoul court overturned a police ban on the demonstrators marching along the city’s main ceremonial boulevard.

‘Under siege’
Around 20,000 police were mobilised, but while the tone of the banners and slogans was angry, the event was largely peaceful, with many school and college students as well as couples carrying infants or walking with their young children. Punching their fists in the air, they chanted “Resign Park Geun-Hye” and “You are under siege”.
Choi Soon-Sil, 60, was formally arrested on Thursday on charges of embezzlement and abuse of power, but public anger has largely focused on the allegations that she interfered in government affairs.
The South Korean media has portrayed Choi, whose late father was a shadowy religious leader and an important mentor to Park, as a Rasputin-like figure who wielded an unhealthy influence over the president.