South Korean opposition returns to streets, calling for Lee to step down

SharpPost Editorial Team | 4 October 2026

South Korea’s main opposition party returned to the streets of Seoul on October 3, with about 70 lawmakers joining a rally calling for President Lee Jae-myung to step down. Separate conservative protests took place near Gwanghwamun. Judicial reforms, Lee’s criminal trials and his policy toward North Korea dominated the demonstrations, held days before parliament begins its annual scrutiny of government agencies.

The demonstrations coincided with National Foundation Day, a public holiday. The Freedom Unification Party, led by pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, began its rally at 1 p.m. on Sejong-daero near Gwanghwamun. Participants waved South Korean and US flags and carried placards demanding Lee’s resignation and trial, according to Newsis reporters at the scene. The party cancelled a march it had planned after the rally.

Newsis also reported scuffles among participants at a rally held by a conservative group that day. Some tried to seize a microphone and disconnect sound equipment. Police sent about 20 additional officers and put up barriers before the confrontation subsided.

The main opposition People Power Party held its rally at 3 p.m. between City Hall station and Sungnyemun gate, led by party leader Jang Dong-hyeok. It was the party’s first major street rally in about a year. MBC’s coverage showed Jang urging the crowd to remove those he accused of ruining the country. Other senior party figures called for Lee to step down and for his trials to resume.

In a statement issued that day, the party criticised reforms to abolish the prosecutors’ office and change prosecutors’ investigative powers, arguing that they would weaken the criminal justice system. Lawmakers at the rally also accused Lee of using judicial reform to shield himself from prosecution in his earlier cases.

North Korea policy was another focus. A landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone on September 21 injured three South Korean soldiers, two of them seriously. At a Defence Ministry briefing on September 29, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said field investigations, injuries and witness accounts indicated a high likelihood that the explosion involved a North Korean military mine.

People Power Party lawmakers criticised Lee for describing the blast as an unforeseen accident in his October 1 Armed Forces Day address, arguing that he had not sufficiently held North Korea responsible, Yonhap reported. The published speech also records his expression of sympathy for the injured soldiers and their families and his wish for their recovery. A September 29 presidential office statement said he had ordered a thorough and transparent military investigation.

Crowd figures varied sharply. The People Power Party claimed 200,000 attended its rally; Kangwon Ilbo reported about 9,000 at Sungnyemun. For the separate Freedom Unification Party rally at Gwanghwamun, the same newspaper cited an unofficial police estimate of about 28,000.

The ruling Democratic Party accused the opposition of taking to the streets to display its strength ahead of parliamentary audits. In a response that day, its parliamentary spokesperson said the rally was really intended to showcase Jang’s influence within his party and urged opposition lawmakers to return to work in the National Assembly.

The People Power Party said it had no further street rallies scheduled after October 3. Parliament’s government audits are due to begin on October 6.