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S. Korea braces for more protests against impeachment
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-14 11:48
South Korea braced for more street rallies Sunday after anti-impeachment
activists promised daily protests against parliament's unprecedented vote to
oust President Roh Moo-hyun.
About 50,000 angry demonstrators streamed into the streets of downtown Seoul
on Saturday night, singing songs, waving candles and holding placards
reading"The movement against Roh's impeachment has found support not only among
his political backers, but also from civic groups that have criticized alleged
corruption in Roh's administration, his decision to send troops to Iraq and his
recent tussle with authorities over illegal campaign funds ahead of next month's
parliamentary elections.
Dubbed by some as a ``coup without guns,'' the opposition-controlled
parliament stunned the nation on Friday by impeaching Roh on charges of
violating election rules and incompetence.
Opinion polls show that about seven in 10 South Koreans oppose the
impeachment.
In the run-up to the controversial vote _ the first in South Korean history _
one Roh supporter set himself on fire and another tried to drive his car up the
National Assembly steps and into the building.
But protests have been mostly peaceful.
The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a civic group that
sponsored Saturday's protest, called for nightly rallies in downtown Seoul to
oppose what it calls the ``oppression by the majority under the pretext of
law.''
The group is often critical of Roh, but says the impeachment goes overboard.
The opposition Grand National and Millennium Democratic parties accuse Roh of
breaking election laws by stumping for the Uri Party in the upcoming April 15
parliamentary poll. Roh doesn't belong to the Uri party but has said he wants to
join.
Government officials are not allowed to campaign for political parties under
South Korean law, but the National Elections Commission ruled Roh's infraction
was minor, not warranting criminal charges. All the same, the opposition have
demanded an apology.
Prime Minister Goh Kun has assumed executive powers while the Constitutional
Court rules on whether Roh's impeachment was constitutional. They have up to six
months to decide.
Roh was to name his legal defense team as soon as Sunday, Yonhap news agency
reported. The nine-justice court will convene on Thursday to review the case.
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