SEOUL, March 15 (UPI) -- South Korea Monday outlawed candlelight protests against the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun following a weekend protest that drew 100,000.
The country's opposition-controlled parliament Friday voted to impeach Roh for an election law violation and incompetence, triggering massive public candlelight rallies to protest the parliamentary move.
The National Police Agency said evening candlelight rallies in the street are illegal and vowed to crack down on them.
"According to the law, we will use force to disperse rallies if participants pay no heed to repeated warnings to disperse."
Jung Soon-kyun, the government spokesman, also said the government will "stabilize society by sternly applying law and principle when breaches occur."
Despite the warnings, organizers of the candlelight protests vowed to continue the rallies against the presidential impeachment. The rallies were led by Nosamo, a group of mostly young Roh supporters who organized over the Internet.
Meanwhile, conservative activists who support Roh's impeachment have also vowed to rallies to counter pro-Roh protests.
