Ahead of March First Independence Movement Day, Both Progressives and Conservatives Raise the Taegeukgi

[Financial News] On the 28th, one day before March First Independence Movement Day, both progressive and conservative camps held rallies across Seoul, waving the Flag of South Korea.
First, Candlelight Action, a progressive civic group, staged a protest in front of the Supreme Court of Korea in Seocho District, Seoul, calling for the impeachment of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea Cho Hee-dae. Around 500 people gathered, holding flags bearing the handprint of independence activist An Jung-geun alongside the Flag of South Korea, and chanted slogans such as, "Impeach Cho Hee-dae, the last bastion of the forces of insurrection."
The impeachment of Chief Justice Cho is also being considered within the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). A public hearing on his impeachment, co-hosted by lawmakers from the broader pro-government camp, is scheduled to be held at the National Assembly on April 4. The protesters also referred to a recent incident in which United States Forces Korea (USFK), during a solo drill over the West Sea, faced off against Chinese fighter jets, denouncing it as a "war provocation" and demanding a halt to combined South Korea–US military exercises.
On the conservative side, the National Movement Headquarters for Rebuilding the Republic of Korea held a Taegeukgi rally the same day in front of Dongwha Duty Free Shop near Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, Seoul, drawing a crowd of about 10,000 people. The organization is chaired by Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church.
Participants demanded the release of former President Yoon Suk Yeol and Pastor Jeon. Pastor Jeon has been indicted and detained on charges of inciting a violent disturbance at the Seoul Western District Court. In a letter from prison read out at the rally, he wrote, "I will surely be acquitted and return to your side."
Both progressive and conservative camps invoked the idea of a "second March First Movement," though from very different backgrounds and motivations.
A total of 613 progressive-leaning groups, including the Korean Council and the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, held a press conference in front of the Statue of Peace near the former Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Korea in Jongno District, Seoul, on the same day. They argued that the Japanese government is veering toward militarism and claimed that pro-Japanese forces remain entrenched under the Lee Jae-myung administration. They stressed that "a second March First Revolution is necessary."
Meanwhile, seven conservative organizations, including the Korea Presbyterian Council, the Korea Conservative Church Alliance, and the National Movement Headquarters for Rebuilding the Republic of Korea, held a press conference at the Koreana Hotel in Jung District, Seoul, that day. They denounced the bill on the separation of church and state proposed by independent lawmaker Hyukjin Choi, as well as the investigation of Pastor Jeon, as religious persecution, and declared, "Together with Protestant churches in the United States of America (US) and around the world, we will launch a second March First Movement."

uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yoon-ho Reporter