SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea is bracing for a potentially violent public reaction to a Constitutional Court ruling on Friday on whether to remove impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office or reinstate him amid the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
The following are some of the security measures being taken in and around the Constitutional Court in central Seoul and elsewhere in the capital.
THE COURT
A 150-metre (164-yard) stretch of a four-lane street in front of the court will be closed to cars and pedestrians, with several layers of police buses parked bumper to bumper along both sides of the road and their wheels chained.
A 1.85 km (1.15 mile) radius around the court has been declared a no-fly zone for Friday with equipment deployed to disable drones.
The eight justices of the court already have security protection and the acting president has directed the police to step up protection for them.
POLICE
The police have warned of zero tolerance for any illegal activities related to the court decision, following a mob rampage at another court after it approved a warrant for Yoon’s detention on January 26.
Authorities were also caught off guard by the violent protest following the ruling ousting former President Park Geun-hye in 2017, when four Park supporters were killed and scores injured, including police.
More than 14,000 police officers will be mobilised throughout Seoul. They have been authorised to use pepper spray and batons if needed. South Korean police have unofficially stopped using tear gas and water cannon for crowd control after deaths in past protests.
CLOSURES
The 11 schools and kindergartens within a 1 km radius of the court will be closed all day on Friday.
National museums near the court and three royal palaces that are popular tourist destinations including the Gyeongbokgung and the UNESCO World Heritage Changdeokgung will be closed to the public on Friday and possibly other days if needed.
The U.S. embassy in South Korea said routine consular operations such as visa interviews would be cancelled on Friday and advised Americans to exercise caution around crowds and rallies.
TRAFFIC, CROWDS
In parts of Seoul and elsewhere in the country hundreds of thousands of people are expected to turn out for opposing rallies. Authorities say some of central Seoul’s main thoroughfares may be closed to traffic.
The Seoul subway’s Anguk station, which is near the court, will be closed all day and trains will not stop there.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Kate Mayberry)
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