The fourteenth round of all-people candlelight rally
The fourteenth round of all-people candlelight rally
The 14th all-people action was launched across south Korea on Feb. 4 under the sponsorship of the emergency people's action for the resignation of the Park Geun-hye regime with more than 420 000 people of all strata involved. There took place a candlelight rally "Day of the 14th all-people actions for impeaching Park Geun-hye within February, ousting Hwang Kyo-ahn, detaining accomplices and realizing reform through candlelight" at the Gwanghwamun Plaza, Seoul.
A meeting held outside the Seoul Central District Court condemned the Park Geun-hye group for slowing the trial of her impeachment. The spring of our society would come when a maxim “Everybody is equal before the law” is proven, they said. They noted that they waged a stay-in strike in front of the Seoul Central District Court for more than ten days since the court declined the warrant of arrest for Lee Chae-young, vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. on Jan. 19. Lee offered the Park regime more than forty billion won and embezzled trillions of money after obtaining the right of management from the regime. They noted that the present society, in which law, justice and equality faded away, should be rebuilt and pointed out that Lee’s arrest would be a starting point of the building of a new society desired by the people. 139 professors of laws released a statement titled “We demand Lee’s incarceration and reform of judicature”. The Seoul Central District Court declined the warrant of arrest for Lee, though he was charged with bribing, the statement criticized. The special inspection team’s issue of a warrant of arrest for Lee is a first step for destruction of a cozy relationship between politics and business and realization of democracy and legalism, the statement stressed. They carried effigy of Park and Lee and miniature of the Gwanghwamun jail in which those responsible for the power abuse are locked in and marched toward the Gangnam Station, while chanting “Park, out”, “Arrest Lee” and “Big business groups are accomplices.”
After the end of prior meeting in different places of Seoul, they staged a candlelight action at the Gwanghwamun Plaza. The people from different parts of south Korea took part in the rally. Park should be impeached within February and they would launch a large-scale rally across south Korea on February 25 marking the four year of her tenure if there is no sign of impeachment, they warned. After the rally, they marched toward the Blue House, the official residence of the prime minister and the “Constitutional Court”. The south Korean security authorities deployed over 14 000 police of 176 companies to crack down on demonstrators, however, they marched along the streets chanting slogans against Park and accomplices. |