The Korea Herald

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Seoul clears illegal camp of Park Geun-hye supporters

By Bak Se-hwan

Published : May 30, 2017 - 15:38

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The Seoul city government Tuesday forcibly removed a camp of former President Park Geun-hye’s supporters outside City Hall.

The site, which is frequented by foreign tourists, has been occupied for 129 days by those protesting against Park’s impeachment.

Seoul city officials remove the tents set up by supporters of former President Park Geun-hye at Seoul Plaza on Tuesday. The tents, installed on Jan. 21, have been occupying the plaza illegally for more than three months. (Yonhap) Seoul city officials remove the tents set up by supporters of former President Park Geun-hye at Seoul Plaza on Tuesday. The tents, installed on Jan. 21, have been occupying the plaza illegally for more than three months. (Yonhap)

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said in a press release that the city would take away a total of 41 tents that occupied one-third of the area.

According to the city government, the group had refused to comply with repeated requests to end its occupation of the area.

Following the city’s decision, 800 government officials and hired workers began the removal process at 6:20 a.m., completing it in less than 30 minutes.

About 30 Park sympathizers showed up at the site to protest against the removal of the tents, but they did not intervene in the works, reported local media outlets.

The city earlier filed a lawsuit against the group to pay compensation for its illegal occupation and against seven of its members for violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)