Hundreds of thousands have taken part in a celebration rally in the South Korean capital of Seoul a day after the country’s legislators voted to impeach scandal-hit President Park Geun-hye.
Police forces were present in Seoul during the massive candle-lit rally on Saturday. For seven straight weeks, rallies have become the signature of a major movement aimed at removing the widely unpopular president from office.
Despite the impeachment vote by lawmakers on Friday stripping Park of her executive powers, activists insist they plan to keep up the pressure. The impeachment process, which requires a final approval from the Constitutional Court, could take months to be ratified.
Still, many South Koreans remain adamant that Park should resign immediately and face criminal prosecution. Until the ratification of the impeachment vote by the high court, the president’s authority is only suspended and she retains the presidency title as well as immunity from prosecution.
Park, meanwhile, has her won supporters - many of them elderly voters that remain dedicated admirers of her father, the late military dictator Park Chung-hee, credited as the architect of the South's economic transformation but vilified as a totalitarian rights abuser.
Nearly 15,000 of people waged a pro-Park rally in Seoul earlier in the day, carrying a large portrait of a young Park with her father and waving national flags and holding banners that read: "President Park, Don't Cry" and "Nullify impeachment."
"When the (anti-Park) protesters stage rallies, they don't carry any national flags. This is because they are all pro-North Korea leftists," said Kim Sa-rang, a 78-year-old church pastor.
The impeachment effort was triggered and fueled by public outrage at Park's misconduct as the country’s top executive, with huge weekly protests demanding that politicians take a pro-active role in ousting her from office.
Park was impeached on numerous charges of constitutional and criminal violations ranging from failure to protect people's lives to bribery and abuse of power.
Most of the charges stemmed from a probe into a scandal involving the president's long-time confidante, Choi Soon-sil, who is currently awaiting prosecution for fraud and embezzlement.
Park is accused of colluding with Choi in coercing large corporations into paying tens of millions of dollars in “donations” to organizations under her control.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is charged with steering the country through the current crisis, is a former prosecutor that has never held elected office.
A stern and not particularly popular figure, Hwang is especially disliked by liberal activists for his zealous pursuit of people deemed "North Korean sympathizers" under the South's draconian national security law.
"More than anything else, I will maintain solid national security," he said, stressing that the military was prepared for any provocation from Pyongyang.
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