Thousands of anti-government protesters, armed with umbrellas and raincoats, marched through the soggy streets of South Korea’s capital Saturday, ignoring official pleas to stay home amid a surge in coronavirus infections. Municipal officials in Seoul had sought to forbid the slew of rallies planned by conservative activist and Christian groups for a holiday celebrating the 75th anniversary of the nation’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II. The demonstrators, many of them wearing masks and carrying the South Korean flag, paraded through rain near Seoul’s presidential palace, calling for liberal President Moon Jae-in to step down over what they see as policy failures, kowtowing to nuclear-armed North Korea and election corruption.
Thousands of anti-government protesters, armed with umbrellas and raincoats, marched through the soggy streets of South Korea’s capital Saturday, ignoring official pleas to stay home amid a surge in coronavirus infections. Municipal officials in Seoul had sought to forbid the slew of rallies planned by conservative activist and Christian groups for a holiday celebrating the 75th anniversary of the nation’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II. The demonstrators, many of them wearing masks and carrying the South Korean flag, paraded through rain near Seoul’s presidential palace, calling for liberal President Moon Jae-in to step down over what they see as policy failures, kowtowing to nuclear-armed North Korea and election corruption.