South Korea: Massive rallies for, against Yoon's ouster held in Seoul ahead of impeachment ruling

Seoul: Tens of thousands of supporters and protesters gathered in South Korea's Seoul on Saturday, either opposing or demanding the ouster of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ahead of the Constitutional Court's impeachment ruling.

Candle Move, an anti-Yoon civic group, hosted rallies near the Constitutional Court in central Seoul, possibly for the last weekend before the court's impeachment ruling on Yoon.

The court is currently deliberating whether to reinstate or remove Yoon from office after he was impeached over his short-lived martial law declaration on December 3. It has yet to announce the date of the ruling, though many expect it to take place next week.

"Some argue that if Yoon is lucky, he could be reinstated and act recklessly, but it would be futile," Kim Min-woong, a leader of the civic group, said during the rally.

"To anyone's eye, Yoon's ouster is obvious."

The rally was followed by another mass protest in the nearby Gwanghwamun area, joined by a group of opposition lawmakers marching from the National Assembly, as well as a separate demonstration in central Seoul by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the country's biggest umbrella labour union.

"We know all too well why Yoon Suk Yeol must be ousted ... Now is the time to protest most vehemently, since he walked out of jail smiling," KCTU Chairman Yang Kyung-soo said, referring to the court's recent decision to release him.

Police estimated that nearly 20,000 people participated in the rallies.

In Gwanghwamun, an estimated 35,000 people gathered, waving the Taegeukgi and the Stars and Stripes, and chanting for Yoon's "immediate reinstatement" and the dissolution of the National Assembly.

A rally host read aloud a letter from former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who was indicted over the martial law turmoil, quoting him as demanding to "thoroughly reveal the crimes of the evil forces and punish them in the name of the people".

Some of Yoon's supporters staged a protest in front of the Constitutional Court, briefly clashing with opponents, Yonhap news agency reported.

Save Korea, a conservative Christian civic group, held a separate prayer rally near the National Assembly in western Seoul, attended by around 3,500 people, who sang hymns and called for the cancellation of Yoon's impeachment.

Around 3,600 police personnel were mobilised across central Seoul, with walls of police buses lining the streets to prevent violence.

A notice at Anguk subway station, the nearest station to the Constitutional Court, said it would be closed from the day of the impeachment ruling until the situation stabilises.