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SEOUL / AP
Carrying flags and candles and cheering jubilantly, tens of thousands of South Koreans occupied a boulevard in downtown Seoul on Saturday to celebrate the ouster of President Park Geun-hye, a day after the Constitutional Court removed her from office over a corruption scandal that consumed the nation for months.
Meanwhile, in a nearby grass square, a large crowd of Park’s supporters glumly waved national flags near a stage where organizers, wearing red caps and military uniforms, vowed to resist what they called a “political assassination.”
Police had braced for violence between the two crowds after three people died and dozens were injured in clashes between police and Park’s supporters after the ruling on Friday. Nearly 20,000 police officers were deployed on Saturday to monitor the protesters, who were also separated by tight perimeters created by hundreds of police buses, a bizarre scene that reflected a saga has left the nation deeply split over its future.
The anti-Park protesters shouted “The candles have won!” and “Arrest Park Geun-hye!” as they began marching toward the presidential Blue House, where Park continued to stay a day after her removal. The Blue House said Park would need more time to vacate as her aides are preparing for her return to her private home in southern Seoul. Park has not made a public statement on her removal. The court’s decision capped a stunning fall for the country’s first female leader. Park rode a wave of lingering conservative nostalgia for her late dictator father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency crumble as millions of furious protesters filled the nation’s streets.