Many people traveled the country to witness this historic moment.
ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)
Many South Koreans took to the streets in icy Seoul on Saturday, welcoming Parliament’s vote to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol after his failed attempt to impose martial law.
In this temple of South Korea’s hard-won democracy, lawmakers voted 204 to 85 to impeach Yoon for his “insurrectionary” attempt to suspend civilian government for the first time in more than four decades.
Outside Parliament, where police said at least 200,000 people had gathered to call for his impeachment, K-pop hits blared, protesters honked horns and hugged each other, announcement of the impeachment vote.
“I’m so happy it’s hard to put into words,” Yeo So-yeon, 31, told AFP. “If it hadn’t been successful tonight, I had decided to come every week anyway. It’s important to be present at such a historic and happy moment,” she adds.
The atmosphere resembles that of a concert, with demonstrators singing “Into the New World”, a song by Girls’ Generation, a K-pop group, which has become a protest anthem.
The hit “Into the New World”, released in 2007, experienced a second wind in 2016 during a peaceful feminist demonstration. The song has since been regularly chanted at protest rallies. “Don’t wait for a special miracle / A difficult path ahead could be unknown future and challenges / But we can’t give up,” Girls’ Generation sing.
In a crowd so large that making their way through has become impossible, demonstrators wave their glow sticks, applaud, dance and jump to the rhythm of music and even Christmas carols.
“A better future”
Thousands of people already gathered outside the National Assembly ahead of voting time, with the sounds of K-pop hits like Psy’s “Gangnam Style” echoing in the air.
Mothers set up a baby changing area and heated tents for young children to play. “I want to give them a better future, like all parents,” says Kim Ji-woo, pointing to his 18-month-old twins. “I hope they can witness history,” she adds.
Kim Deuk-yun, 58, holds a flag from his hiking club. “I had to go hiking today, like every weekend. I really like hiking,” he told AFP, “but I came here to support my fellow citizens.”
“My duty as a citizen”
Cho Hyun-woo says he took the first train in the morning from Busan, a southern port city, to take part in the demonstration. “It’s my duty as a citizen. I didn’t have to think twice,” he says.
Saturday’s vote was not a foregone conclusion — opposition lawmakers had to convince eight lawmakers from Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) to vote against him. Eventually, 12 of them appear to have defected.
The South Korean president is suspended from office while waiting for the Constitutional Court to validate the vote. The Court has 180 days to rule on its future.
(afp)
