Seoul, March 9 (IANS) Nearly 1 out of 10 police officers in South Korea will be mobilised across Seoul on the day of the Constitutional Court ruling on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, officials said on Sunday, an apparently unprecedented move prompted by a recent raid of a Seoul district court by a mob of angry protesters.
Initially, police planned to deploy some 12,000 riot police from 192 units in downtown Seoul, but they are considering increasing the number after President Yoon was released from detention on Saturday.
The 12,000 previously planned had already accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the country’s overall 130,000 police personnel, according to informed sources.
Yoon’s discharge came a day after a court determined his Jan. 26 indictment on insurrection charges, which allowed his detention to be extended, had come hours after the initial detention period had already expired.
Under the new plan, police will mobilise some 5,000 officers at the Constitutional Court and around Gwanghwamun Square a day before the court delivers its verdict, and roughly 9,000 officers on the day of the ruling to make them inaccessible to protesters.
No specific date has yet been set for the ruling.
They also plan to deploy some 40 separate police units to guard places at risk of being attacked by protesters, including the embassies of the United States, China, Japan, Russia, Britain and Canada, residences of Constitutional Court justices and the headquarters of major political parties.
“We cannot be sure how the rallies on both sides for and against the impeachment will turn out,” a police official said, adding there is room for “strengthened” security plans.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather in South Korea’s capital city, Seoul, on Sunday to rally for or against impeached Yoon a day after his surprise release from detention.
According to police, Sarang Jeil Church, led by conservative activist pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, is scheduled to hold a Sunday service outdoors near the presidential residence in central Seoul at 11 a.m.
Conservative civic group Angry Blue is scheduled to hold a separate rally opposing Yoon’s impeachment at Bosingak Pavilion at 1 p.m. before marching along Jongno 3-ga street.
–IANS
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