hankyoreh

Participants in a press conference by Bisang Action for Yoon Out and Social Reform held near Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul on March 9, 2025, the day after impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol was released from pre-trial detention. (Yonhap)

When asked to pinpoint when she felt most afraid in the wake of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s attempted insurrection in December, Min Ji-eun, 30, recalled the period in January when Yoon barricaded himself inside the presidential residence and refused to comply with the warrant for his arrest.

“I was refreshing the news every half hour until I saw him get arrested,” she said. “I couldn’t even sleep until it was over with.”

The darkness of those days crept back up on Min on Saturday after seeing Yoon wave to his supporters after walking free from detention.

“I felt like I’d been able to get back to my normal life in the few weeks following his arrest, so it was a punch to the gut to see him walk free. It felt like we had gone back in time to January,” she said. 

This was why Min dashed to the sit-in protests ongoing in the vicinity of Gyeongbok Palace at 7 am on Sunday.

With the image of Yoon returning to the presidential residence after 52 days of imprisonment haunting them, those attending the 14th mass protest organized by the umbrella group Bisang Action for Yoon Out and Social Reform were reluctant to leave the Gyeongbok Palace area even after the protest wrapped up. 

The leaders of the group had congregated in the area to begin a hunger strike at 11 pm on Saturday. Around a thousand Koreans, shocked by the unexpected turn of events, stayed with the strikers throughout the night while giving speeches condemning Yoon’s release from jail. 

Participants in a press conference by Bisang Action for Yoon Out and Social Reform held near Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul on March 9, 2025, to announce plans for a week of nightly mass rallies. (Jung Yong-il/Hankyoreh)

Lee Da-mon, 24, whom the Hankyoreh met Sunday morning, stated that they had stayed up all night propped up against the palace wall. 

“After hearing news of his release during the protest yesterday, I rushed home to get some blankets before promptly returning,” Lee said. “I wanted people to heed, not dismiss, the voices of those calling for Yoon’s impeachment.”

Lee had attended one of the overnight protests held around the presidential residence in Hannam in the lead-up to the arrest of Yoon. Clad in foil to combat the freezing cold, Lee and others like her gathered there in the snow became known as the “Kisses” protesters, owing to their likeness to Hershey’s Kisses chocolates. 

Lee was most concerned that everything they had fought for in the subzero temperatures would come to naught. “What worries me the most is that Yoon could dial up the chaos in our society as he regains the freedom to act as he pleases following his release.”

Ordinary Koreans who protested through the night spoke of their desire to show their fellow Koreans that they were “undaunted” and “determined to continue the fight.”

“Because of all the trouble we went through leading up to the arrest, a lot of people were shaken up and upset by the news,” said a 31-year-old protester surnamed Jang who had spent the night wrapped up in a foil blanket. “I stayed up through the night to reassure those people and show them that our determination is still strong.” 

Kim Young-ju, 28, who had arrived early that morning at the protest, said with a smile, “We’ve always won. It might seem like there’s a lot of reason to despair, but we’re going to win this one too.”

Bisang Action held a press conference on Sunday morning where it announced plans to hold mass rallies each night at 7 pm until the Constitutional Court makes its ruling on Yoon’s impeachment. It also plans to organize single-person protests outside courts, prosecutors’ offices and government offices around the nation. 

“In every time of crisis, we the people have flooded the public square and made history,” the coalition said. “We call on you to join us again in the square to protect our democracy and the constitutional order.”

By Kim Ga-yoon, staff reporter

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