Japan Institute for National Fundamentals

　　　　　On November 12, roads in central Seoul were filled with people protesting against President Park Geun-hye. Police estimated the number of protesters taking part in the rally at 260,000. Sponsoring the rally was a consortium of trade unions such as the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, and activist groups including the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.

Extraordinary financial power
　　　　　These organizations’ financial power was surprising. Large screens were installed at various locations of roads, with a large temporary stage built at a square in the center of a road where the statute of Sejong the Great is located. Audio facilities were also installed, allowing protesters at any locations of roads and the square to see and hear events on the stage.
　　　　　At the rally, famous singers and groups sang two or three songs while various people made speeches. It was like a free open-air concert. The leftist Seoul mayor is said to have provided sponsoring trade unions with massive financial support.
　　　　　In the center of a road, trade union members with uniform jumpers were sitting. Trade unions repeated slogans urging President Park to resign, while refraining from making their usual radical political assertions.
　　　　　Sitting around them were joyful general public including families and senior high school students. Young couples with infants in baby carriages were easy to notice. There were no radical demonstrators carrying steel pipes. Groups of young women were enthusiastically applauding singers and groups, singing songs along with them. Police concentrated vehicles for security at an intersection one kilometer away from the presidential palace, while refraining from intervening in the rally. Such soft mood was the reason why the rally attracted a record number of crowd.

Country at a turning point
　　　　　However, the sponsors’ assertions represented a radical leftist stance friendly to North Korea. Without inviting opposition party leaders to the stage, the sponsors led mainly women activists, including representatives of the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, an anti-government organization cooperating with relatives of victims in the sinking of MV Sewol and trade unions, to make remarks completely rejecting Park’s policies. Without considering North Korea’s military threats and severe global economic competition, these speakers agitated participants with a simple dichotomy theory that financial cliques and corrupt politicians have ruined the country.
　　　　　A theme song sung repeatedly at the rally was titled “Is this a country?” It is a radical song of revolution saying: “Step down, step down, step down immediately, Park Geun-hye. Jail, jail, jail Park Geun-hye…The Saenuri Party (the ruling party) and the Chosun Ilbo (a leading newspaper), you are ugly conspirators. We will destroy you.” Yun Minsaok, who wrote and composed the song, is an activist who joined an affiliate of an underground political party created by North Korean agents and was charged with making up a song glorifying Kim Il Sung in 1992.
　　　　　Rally sponsors announced a plan to hold the rally every Saturday until Park steps down as president. If Park resigns under their influences, a presidential election may take place in an eve-of-revolution atmosphere, with a radical leftist may be elected as next president.
　　　　　Could South Korean conservatives supporting liberal democracy revitalize themselves after expelling Park supporters? Could the protest rally sponsors that are more left than opposition parties continue to lead politics? South Korea is at a turning point whether violence compels the president to step down or the country can proceed to impeachment process preserving the constitutional order.

Tsutomu Nishioka is Planning Committee Member, Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, and Professor at Tokyo Christian University.