SEOUL: Demonstrators supporting and opposing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held rival protests several hundred meters apart in Seoul on Saturday, a week after he was impeached over his short-lived declaration of martial law.
\nYoon\u2019s presidential powers are suspended but he remains in office. He has not complied with various summonses by authorities investigating whether martial law, which he declared late on Dec. 3 and rescinded hours later, constituted insurrection.
\nHe has also not responded to attempts to contact him by the Constitutional Court, which decides whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential powers. The court plans to hold its first preparatory hearing on Friday.
\nSaturday\u2019s pro- and anti-Yoon protests were held in Gwanghwamun in the heart of the capital. There were no clashes as of 4 p.m. (0700 GMT).
\nTens of thousands of anti-Yoon protesters, dominated by people in their 20s and 30s, gathered around 3 p.m., waving K-Pop light sticks and signs with sayings such as \u201cArrest! Imprison! Insurrection chief Yoon Suk Yeol\u201d to catchy K-pop tunes.
\n\u201cI wanted to ask Yoon how he could do this to a democracy in the 21st century, and I think if he really has a conscience, he should step down,\u201d said 27-year-old Cho Sung-hyo.
\nSeveral thousand pro-Yoon protesters, chiefly older and more conservative people opposing Yoon\u2019s removal and supporting the restoration of his powers, had gathered since around midday.
\n\u201cThese rigged (parliamentary) elections eat away at this country, and at the core are socialist communist powers, so about 10 of us came together and said the same thing \u2014 we absolutely oppose impeachment,\u201d said Lee Young-su, a 62-year-old businessman.
\nYoon had cited claims of election hacking and \u201canti-state\u201d pro-North Korean sympathizers as justification for imposing the martial law, which the National Election Commission has denied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOUL: Demonstrators supporting and opposing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held rival protests several hundred meters apart in Seoul on Saturday, a week after he was impeached over his short-lived declaration of martial law. Yoon\u2019s presidential powers are suspended but he remains in office. He has not complied with various summonses by authorities investigating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-450778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n