History of candlelight rallies in South Korea
[11] Demonstrations On November 20, 2002, the U.S. military court made its first verdict of not guilty for the soldiers involved in the incident, triggering the re-emergence of images of the girls' crushed bodies being spread online after initially having been taken down out of respect of their deaths.
[12][13] On November 30, about 30,000 Koreans gathered in Gwanghwamun for the first mass candlelight vigil to commemorate the girls and protest their injustice death as people sang the national anthem and voiced their demands.
[15] Following these events, the protesters had three demands they attempted to achieve, which outlined the following: Some Korean media sources labeled the vigils, that continued to take place, as "anti-Americanist",[17] while others viewed them as a platform for self-expression for the younger generation.
[12] On December 7, the netizens who were participating in one of the 43 city-wide candlelight protests in Gwanghwamun broke through the police blockade and made their way to the U.S. embassy where they persistently tried to persuade them to apologize and seek appropriate justice.
[19] BackgroundOn a national televised news conference in 2004, President Roh displayed no remorse over his brother's bribery scandal and instead, blamed the construction company executive involved for exploiting a "lesser educated man".
[21][20][22] The National Assembly stripped Roh from his role as the head of state and chief commander soon after the voting session had ended, with Prime Minister Goh Kun stepping up as the interim President of South Korea.
His capital relocation plan and the announcement of a grand coalition have been altered and criticized, and his stagnant economic growth has also led to the worst approval rating ever for a president of 5 percent.
Candles filled the streets from Gwanghwamun in Seoul to the Daehanmun Gate in Deoksugung Palace, and such rallies continued throughout the country until the Constitutional Court rejected the impeachment motion.
On the 11th, at 7 pm, in front of Kyobo Book Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and Lotte Department Store in Seomyeon, Busan, voices condemned the victims of the "Mild Middle School Girl's Sexual Assault" case and the police's insufficient investigation.
The protests, sparked by middle and high school students spread across the country for more than 100 days, with a couple millions participating, including food-conscious housewives.
Spontaneous demonstrations spread widely through the internet and cell phone network finally made Lee Myung-bak drew the president of the apology.
[31] DemonstrationsOn May 2, 2008, the streets of Seoul were filled with hundreds of secondary and college students that orchestrated a candlelight vigil via text messages and the internet in protest of the agreement.
[32] Thereafter, the candlelight protests became a daily occurrence, with 100,000 people gathering to rally against the agreement and calling for the impeachment of President Lee, which had garnered 1.2 million signatures online on May 6.
[33][32] On May 22, the Korean government announced that they would attempt to exclude certain parts of U.S. beef that may be more receptive to mad cow disease as the President offered an apology for disregarding the public's health concerns, but this did not quell their grievances.
[34][33] Protests erupted in Busan, Chuncheon, Daegu, and Gwangju, with the end of May ushering 211 arrests on protestors for displaying political slogans and signs that the Korean government had warned against utilizing.
[32] The candlelight protests lasted from May 2008 until August 2008 and is remembered as a mass movement that emerged from the South Korean government's failure to hold the trust of the people.
[36] On May 31, rallies and marches were held in Seoul and other major cities, including Ansan and Busan, to pay tribute to the victims of the Ferry Sewol accident and to urge them to find out the truth.
The candlelight vigil attracted the attention of the world by awakening a large number of violent citizens to conduct peaceful protests without violence, judging and driving unfair power without shedding blood.
[41][42] The Candlelight Revolution pressured the National Assembly into processing the impeachment of Park, with the Constitutional Court approving the motion on March 11, 2017, as the rallies continued throughout the months with fervor.
