A convoy of tractors and trucks rolled into southern Seoul on Tuesday, as members of the Korean Peasants League held a protest calling for the impeachment of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The protest was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at Namtaeryeong Pass in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, where members of the Korean Peasants League — many of them farmers from rural provinces — gathered with flags and banners, chanting slogans demanding Yoon's immediate removal.
The group announced plans to march toward Gwanghwamun in central Seoul, but was blocked by police at the pass, resulting in a standoff between protesters and police on the southern edge of Seoul as they entered from surrounding Gyeonggi Province.
By Tuesday afternoon, traffic near Namtaeryeong began to slow, with farm vehicles and heavy trucks stuck on the roads, causing significant congestion along major routes in the area.
The use of tractors in the protest, in particular, was a central point of dispute between the group and authorities.
Earlier on Sunday, the Seoul Metropolitan Police announced it had issued a ban on the use of tractors in their march, citing concerns over public safety and traffic congestion.
In response, the group filed for an injunction against the ban, and the court accepted their request — allowing up to 20 trucks through between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., but explicitly prohibiting tractors from entering the city.
However, the Korean Peasants League criticized the decision as an excessive infringement of the freedom of assembly and moved ahead with both trucks and tractors as planned, defying the court’s partial restriction.
To maintain public order and prevent clashes between opposing protest groups, the Seoul Metropolitan Police also mobilized 27 mobile police squad units — totaling some 1,700 officers — with additional support from nine units dispatched by the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police.
“The police will guarantee the freedom of assembly to the fullest extent within the boundaries permitted by the court,” the Seoul police said in a statement. “However, any actions that go beyond what has been allowed will be met with strict enforcement based on law and principle.”
Tuesday's rally marked the Korean Peasants League’s second tractor-led protest in recent months. In late December, the group attempted to march to the presidential residence in Hannam-dong in a convoy of about 30 tractors, resulting in a 28-hour standoff with police at Namtaeryeong.
Many people flocked to the site in the middle of the night to show solidarity with the farmers against what they said was an unfair use of the police's authority to protect the president, and they eventually marched to Hannam-dong. However, several leaders of the protest were later booked for investigation.
With the Constitutional Court expected to deliver its ruling on Yoon’s impeachment later this week or early next week, demonstrations from both sides are anticipated to remain intense at least until the verdict is announced.
flylikekite@heraldcorp.com
