Seoul: Police allowed protesters who support President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment to march with a tractor in downtown Seoul, ending an 18-hour standoff after the police attempted to tow the tractor away. Police suspect the tractor was involved in the protest led by the farmers' group that called for Yoon's impeachment the previous day, which then made a detour to reach downtown Seoul overnight.
According to Yonhap News Agency, at around 10:10 p.m., the tractor proceeded about 350 meters toward Gyeongbokgung Station from near Tongin Market with anti-Yoon protesters. An unofficial police estimate suggested that around 6,000 people gathered near Gyeongbokgung Station to rally at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Protesters have held back-to-back rallies and press conferences since early in the morning, vowing to protect the tractor that had been forcibly towed by police at around 4:15 a.m. On Tuesday, the Korean Peasants League members drove their trucks, carrying tractors, to Namtaeryeong pass and attempted to march toward downtown Seoul for a rally in the evening but were stopped by police at the southern gateway to the capital.
The rally, which lasted all night, was mostly dispersed by 7 a.m., according to officials.