South Korean government urges calm ahead of anti-Park protest

Reading Time:2 minutes

South Korean President Park Geun-hye speaks during a meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the presidential house in Seoul. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:41pm, 11 Nov 2016Updated: 11:06pm, 11 Nov 2016

The South Korean government called for calm Friday ahead of a mass rally against President Park Geun-hye – expected to be one of the largest seen in Seoul since the pro-democracy protests of the 1980s.

The government is concerned that the protest could lead to illegal collective action or violence

Deputy Prime Minister Lee Joon-sik

Police said they were planning for a crowd of around 170,000 for Saturday’s demonstration to demand Park step down over a corruption scandal that has left her fighting for her political life.

Organisers say they expect up to 500,000 people to turn out.

“The government is concerned that the protest could lead to illegal collective action or violence,” Deputy Prime Minister Lee Joon-sik told reporters.

“Until now, the government has guaranteed the freedom to legally protest. We hope the public will cooperate so that [Saturday’s] demonstration will be legal and peaceful,” Lee said.

It will be the third weekly anti-Park protest in a row, as pressure grows on the beleaguered president, despite a series of apologies and efforts to appease public anger by reshuffling senior officials and agreeing to cede some of her extensive executive powers to the national assembly.

“We are feeling the weight of the serious public mood,” presidential spokesman Jung Youn-Kuk acknowledged Friday.

Most experts believe Park, who has just over a year left of her single five-year term, will be able to ride out the crisis and remain in office, albeit with her authority and ability to govern seriously undermined.