South Korean people's reactions mixed to Park impeachment ruling

When South Korean Constitutional Court acting chief justice Lee Jung-mi read the ruling on impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, in Gwanghwamun Square, just one kilometer from the constitutional court, anti-Park protesters cheered.

They gathered in front of a temporarily set screen to watch TV media reports. A legislator was talking about the coming election of new president.

Most of them held red placards with white slogan "Impeachment is victory," "Bring Park to justice."

The southern end of the square was occupied by tents and sleep bags of anti-Park protesters. A small hall was set up for citizens to mourn the dead and the missing in a deadly sinking of a ferry off the southwestern coast of the country. Park is blamed for not properly handling this tragedy.

"There are still nine people missing, yet to return to their families," read a slogan sticking on the top of the small hall, where hundreds of victims' portrait photos hung on the wall. Several people bowed before the photos and put flowers under them.

Outside the hall, a middle-aged man carried a large board on his back, reading "South-North relation gets worse, economy and foreign relations get worse. It's time to change."

At the same time, some South Koreans cheered outside the court in downtown Seoul after hearing the impeachment ruling.

A tearful mother and her daughter were among the anti-Park protesters who held placards that read "Impeachment is Victory of Candlelight Vigil" and "No THAAD."

Park's supporters, who rallied just hundreds of meters away on the street, remained silent and burst into tears following the verdict.

Before the noon, hundreds of pro-Park demonstrators rallied in front of a crossroad just a few hundred meters away from the constitutional court. Most of them are senior citizens holding Park's pictures or waving national flags. A huge LED screen mounted on a truck displayed a live video of Park's supporter gathering somewhere else.

"Stop the impeachment, she is still our president," a women cried with tears in her face. Others kept waving national flags and raising their fists, shouting "stop the impeachment."

The LED screen was playing a man's speech saying that Park was betrayed by people around her. Suddenly, his speech was interrupted by another man, who looked very upset and said the court just upheld the motion to impeach Park.

The crowd stopped shouting slogan and waving flags for a while, as if they couldn't believe the result.

Park's supporters still believed the scandal embroiling president would have a chance.

An old woman burst into tears afther hearing the verdict, holding a picture of Park Chung-hee, the ousted president's father who was killed in 1979. A man shouted "no, you (constitutional court) shouldn't do that, it's not the end!"

Then cries were heard one and another. Some demonstrator dropped the national flags to wipe their eyes.

More began to speak about not giving up. "We will take to the street, it's not over."

About one hour later, the pro-Park demonstrators marched towards the constitutional court and clashed with anti-riot police. Two of them died during the clash, according to local media reports.

Local survey said eight out of 10 South Koreans supported the impeachment ahead of the final ruling.

The outcome of Park impeachment ruling is uncertain, but one thing is for sure: it's time to change.

Source: Xinhua