Protesters in Gwanghwamun Square last week call for President Park's resignation. / Korea Times file



By Lee Han-soo

The fourth mass protest calling for President Park Geun-hye's resignation will be held Saturday at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.

With an estimated million people calling for her resignation last week, numbers are expected to grow as high school seniors, who just finished their College Scholastic Ability Test, are expected to join in.

Organizers estimate more than 500,000 people will participate in Seoul and a total of a million nationwide.

Meanwhile, police are giving their full attention to the protest because pro-Park groups, collectively called "Parksamo" — which literally means people who love Park Geun-hye —are also planning a large-scale rally in downtown Seoul on Saturday.

"Parksamo has reported that about 5,000 people will participate in the protest," a police official told Seoul News, a Korean news outlet. "We don't see a large possibility of a feud between the two protest groups since their time and place of protest is different. However, a conflict might arise after pro-Park civil groups finish their protest."

With tensions continuing to rise, Park's approval rating remained at a flat 5 percent again this week, making her the most unpopular president in Korean history.

Some foreign media have gone further and said there is a high possibility of Park resigning.

"The chances of her being forced out of office have increased … now putting the probability of Park resigning at 70 percent," wrote the Washington Post, quoting Eurasia Group, a consulting firm that assesses risk.