SEOUL: Tens of thousands of protesters braved sleet and freezing temperatures in Seoul on Saturday to demand President Park Geun-Hye resign over a corruption scandal or face impeachment.
People beat drums and chanted "Park get out now" as they walked towards the presidential Blue House that had been cordoned off by thousands of police deployed in the South Korean capital.
By late afternoon 350,000 protesters had joined the march, organisers said. They expect up to 1.5 million to take part in the demonstration, with another half a million in provincial cities.
Police put the figure at 140,000 participants in Seoul.
Parents and their children, university students and Buddhist monks were among those protesting for the fifth straight weekend as Park comes under intensifying pressure to step down.
"I don't think Park would step down voluntarily, but we need to raise our voice as much as possible to encourage parliament to push through with its move to impeach her," Lee Seung-Cheol, a 23-year-old student, told AFP.
The largely peaceful rallies have been growing in size over the past month, attracting an estimated one million people two weeks ago, and are among the largest seen in South Korea since the pro-democracy protests of the 1980s.
Park has issued public apologies over the influence-peddling scandal involving her long-time confidante Choi Soon-Sil, who has been arrested for fraud and abuse of power, but has defied repeated calls to resign.
Choi is also accused of interfering in government affairs, despite holding no official position.
The 60-year-old allegedly leveraged her relationship with Park to coerce donations from conglomerates, including SK, Lotte and Samsung, to non-profit foundations which she set up and used for personal gain.
Park has promised to submit herself to an expanding probe by prosecutors, as well as a separate investigation by an independent special prosecutor to be appointed by parliament.
Nevertheless her approval ratings have plunged to a record low for a sitting president as top advisers and some of South Korea's most powerful companies are caught up in the ever-widening scandal.
The headquarters of SK, Lotte and Samsung were raided by state prosecutors this week along with the offices of the finance ministry and state pension fund.
A parliamentary vote to impeach Park could take place as early as next week as a growing number of ruling party politicians back the opposition-led campaign to oust the president.
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A poll this week indicates that nine out of 10 South Koreans want Park kicked out of office.
"I came here because I wanted to show my children that people are the owner of this country, not the power holders," Shim Kyu-Il, a 47-year-old company employee, told AFP.
There was a festive mood among protesters at the rally in Seoul, with many wearing raincoats and clutching umbrellas to protect themselves against the cold and wet weather.
Food, placards and leaflets were being handed out, street vendors were selling candles and chairs, and some protestors were dancing to music.
Buddhist monks wearing grey robes recited a sutra while other protestors simulated Park, Choi and Samsung scion Lee Jae-Yong being led into prison.
Trucks carried loudspeakers blaring "Park get out now".
Yang Duk-Joon, 53, said he and other farmers had taken a bus from the southern provincial city of Muan to join the protest.
"We're here to oust Park who ruined this country," he said, adding the rice price had fallen 40 percent this year compared with a year earlier.
If parliament passes the impeachment motion, Park would be suspended from official duties and replaced by the prime minister. The Constitutional Court would need to approve the impeachment.
"Even though the Constitutional Court is deemed conservative, they would be unable to defy the people's wish to oust Park", Kang Won-Taek, a political science professor of the Seoul National University, told AFP.
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