A progressive civic group held a protest rally outside the US Embassy in Seoul on Saturday, accusing the United States of interfering in South Korea's domestic affairs. Around 500 protesters gathered, police estimated. No clashes occurred as they complied with police instructions.
Protesters from Candlelight Action, a progressive civic group, gathered outside the US Embassy compound in central Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on Saturday. An estimated 500 participated, according to police. They had marched from Jonggak Station before staging the rally.
The group held placards condemning the US for undermining South Korea's sovereignty by requesting Seoul to lift an exit ban on Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of K-pop powerhouse Hybe. They charged that the US is "attacking" President Lee Jae Myung for refusing support for its war against Iran and seeking an early transfer of wartime operational control.
Demonstrators also denounced Washington for restricting intelligence-sharing on North Korea after Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's unilateral disclosure of shared intelligence on an unidentified North Korean nuclear facility. They criticized the nomination of Michelle Park Steel, a conservative former Republican lawmaker, as the new US ambassador to South Korea.
Police issued two loudspeaker warnings to continue marching, and no clashes occurred as protesters complied. Hours earlier, around 6,000 protesters from a conservative group led by hard-line activist pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon held a separate demonstration in Gwanghwamun, justifying ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law imposition.
