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SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) — Civic groups across the country gathered for the second consecutive day Thursday to call on President Yoon Suk Yeol to step down over his botched bid to impose martial law.
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the largest umbrella labor unions in the country, and other civic groups held protests in Gyeryong and other parts of South Chungcheong Province, starting at 7:40 a.m., to demand Yoon’s resignation.
Participants of a candlelight vigil chant slogans demanding the resignation of President Yoon Suk Yeol in the northeastern city of Chuncheon on Dec. 4, 2024. (Yonhap)
The participants held banners that read, “Nullification of illegal emergency martial law is victory for democracy” and “Immediately arrest treasonous criminal Yoon Suk Yeol and his accomplices,” while calling on people to take part in the joint action.
“We must take down President Yoon, who turned the clock of the Republic of Korea back 44 years, and make him pay for the terrifying 155 minutes,” they said, referring to the duration after Yoon imposed martial law until the National Assembly voted to end it.
Starting at 5 p.m., the civic groups held resolution meetings in the central cities of Cheonan and Daejeon, and in front of Seosan City Hall.
In the central city of Chungju, eight local council members affiliated with the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) held a press conference demanding Yoon immediately step down from his post, saying his declaration of martial law “destroyed the spirit of the Constitution entirely.”
They called the declaration a “challenge against the people” and an act that “unnerves the foundation of democracy.”
Citizens and civic groups also took to the streets in Daejeon at 7 p.m., chanting slogans and urging the impeachment of Yoon.
Meanwhile, a network of 86 civic groups based in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul, held a rally at 7 p.m. at the May 18 Democracy Square, a plaza commemorating the pro-democracy uprising of 1980.
Over 800 people attended the rally, waving signs calling for the arrest and detention of Yoon.
Members of an organization, who lost their spouses and children to martial law troops during the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju, also came to the streets, recalling the past and handing out food to the participants.
On the southern island of Jeju, youth groups and dozens of students held a press conference in front of the city hall, saying they will “defend democracy as we were taught.”
A series of rallies were also held in front of provincial offices of the ruling People Power Party, criticizing the party’s decision to oppose an impeachment motion against Yoon.
Civic groups and citizens hold a rally protesting against President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched bid to impose martial law in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Dec. 5, 2024. (Yonhap)
Members of an organization who lost their spouses and children to martial law troops during the 1980 pro-democracy movement prepare food to hand out to participants at a rally at the May 18 Democracy Square in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul, on Dec. 5, 2024, calling on President Yoon Suk Yeol to step down after his abrupt declaration and subsequent lifting of martial law earlier this week. (Yonhap)
sookim@yna.co.kr
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