Tens of thousands of South Koreans stage protest in Seoul calling for President Park Geun Hye to resign

Demonstrators gather during a protest calling for the resignation of South Korean President Park Geun Hye in Gwanghwamun square in Seoul on Nov 5, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
Demonstrators gather during a protest calling for the resignation of South Korean President Park Geun Hye in Gwanghwamun square in Seoul on Nov 5, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
Demonstrators gather during a protest calling for the resignation of South Korean President Park Geun Hye in Gwanghwamun square in Seoul on Nov 5, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
Demonstrators gather during a protest calling for the resignation of South Korean President Park Geun Hye in Gwanghwamun square in Seoul on Nov 5, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
South Korean people gather during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun Hye on a main street in Seoul on Nov 5, 2016. PHOTO: EPA
South Korean people hold up photographs of Choi Soon Sil with a banner reading 'Park Geun Hye Out' during a protest against President Park Geun Hye in Seoul on Nov 5, 2016. PHOTO: EPA
South Korean people gather during a protest against President Park Geun Hye in Seoul on Nov 5, 2016. PHOTO: EPA
Seoul mayor Park Won Soon (centre) attends a rally as protesters carry placards reading 'Park Geun Hye Out', during a rally against President Park Geun Hye in Seoul on Nov 5, 2016. PHOTO: EPA

SEOUL (REUTERS) - Tens of thousands of South Koreans protested in central Seoul on Saturday (Nov 5) in one the largest demonstrations in the country's capital for years, calling on embattled President Park Geun Hye to resign over a growing influence-peddling scandal.

Roughly 43,000 people were at the candle-lit rally early on Saturday (Nov 5) evening, according to police. Organisers said a growing crowd of 100,000 had assembled, making the protest one of the biggest since demonstrations in 2008 against US beef imports.

Park Geun Hye has been rocked by a scandal involving an old friend who is alleged to have used her closeness to the president to meddle in state affairs. Ms Park has pledged to cooperate with prosecutors in an investigation.

Koreans have been angered by the revelations and say Ms Park, the latest South Korean leader to be embroiled in a scandal involving family or friends, has betrayed public trust and mismanaged her government.

Her approval rating has slipped to just 5 per cent according to a Gallup poll released on Friday (Nov 4), the lowest number for a South Korean president since such polling began in 1988.

Police said they had deployed 17,600 officers and 220 units including buses and mobile barriers to Saturday's protest.

Police in riot gear lined the alleys and streets leading to the presidential Blue House as the main body of the demonstration began the march through central Seoul.

Ms Park has sacked many of her immediate advisers over the crisis. A former aide, Jeong Ho Seong, was arrested on Thursday (Nov 3) on suspicion of leaking classified information, a prosecution official told Reuters.

No South Korean president has ever failed to finish their five-year term, but Ms Park has faced growing pressure from the public and political opponents to quit.

"Even though we're just students, we feel like we can't put up with this unreasonable society anymore so we're participating in this protest with like-minded friends," said Mr Byun Woo Hyuk, an 18-year-old high school student holding a banner calling on the president to resign.

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