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'Listen to us': Scores of protesters urge parliament to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol

Published: 14 Dec. 2024, 14:25 Updated: 14 Dec. 2024, 19:42

LEE JIAN
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SHIN MIN-HEE
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CHO YONG-JUN
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Protesters outside the National Assembly in western Seoul on Saturday around 1:00 p.m. [CHO YONG-JUN]

An air of nervous excitement filled the grounds around the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Saturday morning, just five hours before the parliament’s second attempt to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The streets were already busy with protest trucks, tents, media and security personnel preparing for the more than 100,000 protesters expected to arrive at the city’s political nucleus throughout the day.

Last week, rally-goers came to protest with a sense of disbelief. Many now feel they have a grip on reality — and it is dire.

Kim Yun-jin, a 37-year-old office worker from Jeonju, North Jeolla, expressed a feeling of betrayal by the nation's leaders.

Protesters outside the National Assembly hold a "Yoon Suk Yeol funeral" in western Seoul on Saturday [CHO YONG-JUN]

“Democracy is dead,” Kim said. “How can they not impeach Yoon even after soldiers pointed guns at civilians? At least last time, when Park Geun-hye was impeached, it wasn’t because she imposed martial law on us. It seems that Yoon doesn’t care about the people of our nation at all.”

Ten days ago, Yoon declared martial law but the effort was soon stymied when lawmakers convened at the parliament almost immediately, pushing past Yoon’s armed special forces, who simultaneously arrived on site to stop them. In a decisive move, they voted against the decree, forcing Yoon to retract it.

That Saturday, on Dec. 7, an impeachment bill was put to a vote in the Assembly but fell through when most members of Yoon’s conservative party boycotted the process.

Protesters sit in single file in front of the National Assembly building in western Seoul on the morning of Dec. 14. [LEE JIAN]

As noon approached, protesters began to sit in single file in front of the National Assembly, in rows that stretched as far as one kilometer, or over half a mile, and kept growing. They were collectively carrying a bunch of items in preparation for a rally that will last well into the evening: lightsticks, sitting mats, blankets and placards demanding the impeachment of Yoon.

Kim Ji-soo, 20, was sitting near the front of one line. She drove herself from Gimpo for the protest.

“I’ve been very emotional the past several days,” she said. “Every day since the declaration has been a total shock, and I’ve just been sitting at home, sighing and feeling helpless. But seeing the people [on television] rallying, it touched me.”

Kim wasn’t the only protester who took the trouble to show up.

Jeong So-yeon, 24, came to the rally from Anyang, Gyeonggi, amid her university’s final exams. She brought her textbooks with her so that she could study in between protesting.

“I didn’t participate in rallies last week but came here today because I’ve just been in disbelief over the news that has come out over the last week,” she said. “I wanted to be of small help and put pressure on our government to listen to us.”

Richard Tremaine, a 72-year-old American visiting Korea for leisure, happened to be in the city amid the ongoing political turmoil.

“Of all the things that I can see in Seoul today, coming here was the most important thing I could do,” he said watching the rally from the side.

“This is a historic event. The imposition of martial law a week ago is unique in current history worldwide. And the implications of what happens here today spread throughout the world, including in America, where we have the hints of a president that could follow, lead and impose martial law on a whim. So what happens today in a parliament vote today, is becomes a personal issue for me as well.”

Thirty-one-year-old Baek Rae-cheol came from Jangheung County, South Jeolla, some 319 kilometers from Yeouido. As of Friday night, high-speed KTX train tickets to Seoul from provincial cities, including Busan, Daejeon, Daegu and Yeosu, were all sold out.

Food trucks at the rally to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol near the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 14. [LEE JIAN]

"I thought he was kidding me when he told me helicopters were flying around at night in Seoul," Baek said, recalling what he was told by his friend, Jung Il-geun, who was with him on Saturday. "But it was on the news. It was like seeing something from a movie in real life."

"Yoon's violent rhetoric, I think, has gotten worse after getting into hot water," Jung said. "We've served in the military, so we know the dangers of pro-North Korean forces, but it's the fact that he's doing damage to us instead, the people of the country."

Protesters gather in an orderly fashion to demand the ousting of President Yoon Suk Yeol near the National Assembly in western Seoul on the morning of Dec. 14. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

A protester near the National Assembly in western Seoul [SHIN MIN-HEE]

The official rally began at 2 p.m. The vote is set to begin at 4 p.m., though delays are likely.

As early arrivers were bracing themselves for a long day, Seo Seung-woo, a middle-aged merchant who has been selling lightsticks, said he would be staying until everyone from the rally goes home.

"The younger generation right now are expressing their anger in an orderly fashion through a democratic procedure," Seo said. "They're making our future brighter in a way that's different from how the older generation dealt with political incidents in the past. I'm so proud of them all."

BY LEE JIAN, SHIN MIN-HEE, CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]