A protester is restrained during a rally at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on May 1. [NEWS1]
Korea, long known as the “land of morning calm,” no longer lives up to the name. Seoul now outpaces Paris, Tokyo and Washington with its near-constant churn of noisy, frenetic protests.
In Seoul, police forces were mobilized for 5,929 rallies last year, according to the Korean National Police Agency. The figure far exceeds the number recorded in Paris, where the French Revolution (1789-99) began and demonstrations are part and parcel of French civic life.
Last year, Paris saw approximately 5,200 rallies, according to data from the French Ministerial Statistical Department for Internal Security. During the same period, New York logged around 4,500 protests, and London about 4,100. Tokyo also saw far fewer protests than Seoul, with about 500 last year, according to Japan’s National Police Agency.
While Seoul’s numbers surged following former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, this relentless cycle of rallies seems to have been present since 2020.
Anti-Yoon Suk Yeol and liberal protesters gather at a rally in front of the National Assembly in western Seoul on Dec. 14, 2024. [YONHAP]
Some critics point to Korea’s highly centralized administrative structure — with political and economic power concentrated in Seoul — as a key reason protesters flock to the capital.
The Blue House; the National Assembly; the central government complex housing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Unification; and the headquarters of large conglomerates are located in areas such as Gwanghwamun in central Seoul and Yeouido in western Seoul.
This spatial characteristic draws large-scale protests from across the country into Seoul’s dense urban center, according to experts.
“People from across the country want to demonstrate in places where their voices will most directly reach decision-makers,” said Lee Hoon, a professor of police administration at Chosun University. “Even when the issue is local, it is often more effective — in terms of symbolism, media attention and cost — to charter buses to protest in places such as Gwanghwamun.”
A truck, used to protest against the merger of Daejeon and South Chungcheong, is parked in front of Gwanghwamun in central Seoul on Jan. 16. [YONHAP]
Some analysts see the high volume of protests as a reflection of deeper, polarized conflicts within Korean society.
“Korea has multiple factors of conflicts — political, religious, racial, labor-related, class-based, cultural and ideological,” said Lee Yoon-ho, a professor emeritus of police administration at Dongguk University. “The lack of limited institutional mechanisms or social capacity to autonomously resolve these conflicts led people to resort to protests and rallies.”
Other observers note that technology has allowed people to gather and participate in rallies more easily than in the past. Social media and online forums enable organizers to share locations and other information in real time, making it easier for large crowds to gather quickly at low cost.
Police cars are parked across the Gwanghwamun area in central Seoul to prevent people from gathering for a far-right rally on August 14, 2021. [YONHAP]
The legacy of past mass protests has also shaped the chronic cycle.
Through candlelight vigils between 2016 and 2017, around the time of former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment and ouster, and more recent demonstrations over Yoon, Gwanghwamun Square has emerged as a symbolic hub for public assembly.
As protests are now regarded as a legitimate and routine form of civic expression, the psychological barrier to joining them has diminished, experts say.
“In Tokyo, protests are often viewed as disruptive or as causing inconvenience to others,” said Sung Yong-eun, a professor of police safety at Far East University. “In Seoul, they are frequently approached like cultural events — something people attend with friends or partners. That atmosphere has also contributed to the rise in demonstrations.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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