Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets on Saturday night to demand the constitutional court give a green light to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye that was passed last week in the parliament.
Organizers, composed of about 1,500 civic groups, estimated that around 770,000 ordinary people participated in the eighth Saturday demonstration held in capital Seoul and major cities across the country. Rallies lasted since the scandal involving the impeached president erupted in October.
In Seoul, some 650,000 protesters gathered in Gwanghwamun Square, just over a kilometer away from the presidential Blue House where Park's office and residence are located. In other major cities, about 120,000 turned out in candlelit vigils.
Demonstrators in the capital city called on the constitutional court to justify the impeachment as rapidly as possible given that uncertainties remain about when and whether to permanently remove Park from office.
The court has up to 180 days to deliberate, but concerns emerge over longer-than-scheduled deliberation as a group of attorneys defending the president reportedly claimed innocence for her alleged violation of multiple constitutional provisions and criminal laws.
Protesters on the streets shouted for the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-han, who assumes temporary power until the court's final ruling is reached. Hwang, a close aide to President Park, served as justice minister before being appointed as the second-highest administrative post in 2015.
Some of local media outlets criticized Hwang for his alleged abuse of presidential power though the unelected official serves as acting president. Hwang reportedly demanded excessive treatment, provided only for the chief executive, and exercise the right to let officials remain in office or appointed to a new position, a unique authority given to the president.
Parliamentary hearings are also estimated to have enraged South Koreans as witnesses appearing in the Wednesday and Thursday hearings broadcast live on TV insisted on their innocence and had no previous knowledge of wrongdoings linked to the scandal.
Considering the expected continuation of weekend rallies during the cold winter days, the organizers ended this Saturday's candlelight vigils earlier than previous protests.
An official event kicked off at about 5 p.m. after a preliminary function near the square in central Seoul.
A lights-out ceremony was repeated to allow people incapable of joining the street rally to indirectly take part by turning off light at home and offices for a minute. The lights-out is aimed to send a message that the darkness cannot beat the light.
The official event was followed by marches up to 100-200 meters from the constitutional court and the prime minister office as well as the presidential Blue House.
Slogans to imprison the chiefs of family-run conglomerates were presented once again on allegations that the country's largest businesses offered illegal funds to President Park's decades-long friend in return for receiving business favors.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is suspected of making the biggest donations to Park's confidante-controlled foundations and offering millions of U.S. dollars to the confidante's daughter in order to get an approval from the national pension fund for the merger of two subsidiaries of Samsung Group.
The merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was extremely crucial to Vice Chairman Lee to inherit management control of the country's biggest conglomerate from his father Chairman Lee Kun-hee who has been hospitalized for over two and a half years for heart attack.
