Self-Immolation, Fasting, All-Nighters... The Square Grows More Intense

Pro- and Anti-Impeachment Rallies Held Across Seoul
79-Year-Old Yoon Supporter Dies After Self-Immolation
Hunger-Striking Woman in Her 50s Hospitalized

As the Constitutional Court's ruling date on President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial is delayed, the atmosphere on the streets and in the "plazas" is becoming increasingly tense.

Participants are urging impeachment on the 19th at the 'Urgent Action for Immediate Dismissal of Traitor Yoon Seok-yeol' held in front of Dongsipjagak, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

A 79-year-old male supporter of President Yoon died on the 19th while receiving treatment at a specialized burn hospital in Seoul. On the 7th, he set himself on fire after distributing leaflets criticizing the opposition party and the Constitutional Court on the rooftop of the Urban Architecture Exhibition Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. Earlier, on January 15, a man in his 50s who attempted self-immolation near the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province, where the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (PCC) is located, died during the PCC's attempt to arrest President Yoon.

According to the police on the 20th, rallies both opposing and supporting impeachment are scheduled across Seoul, hosted by groups such as the University Student National Assembly, the National Coalition Against Impeachment, the Liberty Unification Party, the Liberty Culture National Coalition, Candlelight Action, Emergency Action for Resignation, and the Five Opposition Parties. On this day alone, assemblies or marches were reported in five locations including Gwanghwamun, near the Constitutional Court, and Yeouido.

Pastor Kwanghoon of Sarang Jeil Church is preaching at the National Sunday Joint Worship held on the 2nd in Gwanghwamun, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Hunger strikes and overnight protests continue. The Emergency Action for Immediate Resignation of Yoon Seok-yeol and Social Reform announced on the 19th that Jin Young-jong, co-representative of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, and Jung Young, president of the National Women's Farmers Federation, who had been on a hunger strike for 12 days, were urgently hospitalized due to rapid health deterioration. Currently, 15 co-chairs of the Emergency Action, including them, are on hunger strike. Choi Hwi-joo, national representative of the Progressive University Students Network and co-chair of the Emergency Action, said, "If the ruling date is further delayed, the enraged public will soon raise their voices condemning the Constitutional Court."

Anti-impeachment groups such as the Liberty Unification Party, led by Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, have been holding overnight rallies near Exit 5 of Anguk Station, close to the Constitutional Court, since the 10th. The President's National Defense Lawyers, a group supporting President Yoon, held relay press conferences throughout the day on the 19th in front of the Constitutional Court with various figures opposing impeachment. A woman in her 50s, Kim, who had been on a hunger strike for nine days in front of the Constitutional Court opposing impeachment, was hospitalized on the 18th.