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About 300 members of religious and social groups and 100,000 citizens gather in front of the grass square at City Hall to hold a rally on Monday protesting plans to abolish the National Security Law.
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About 100,000 people (police estimate), including members of 300 civic and Christian groups held the "Citizens' Mass Rally to Protect the National Security Law" to oppose plans to abrogate the National Security Law (NSL). The protest featured the biggest crowds since the anti-presidential impeachment rallies on March.
The rally was supervised by the "Anti-Nuclear, Anti-Kim [Jong-il] Citizens' Council," but the leadership of the rally was shared with national elders like former prime ministers Kang Yeong-hun, Nam Deok-woo, Hyeon Seung-jong and Hwang In-seong, and the gathering unfolded as a pan-citizen rally, with the Christian Council of Korea holding a prayer session to save the nation.
At the prayer session, which began at 3:30 p.m., Rev. Cho Yong-gi warned, "If our military is a fence, the National Security Law is the gate. No matter how strong the fence, if you leave the gate open, enemies could come right into your bedroom, and you'd be ruined in an instant."
In an address at the rally, Korea Veterans Association president Lee Sang-hun demanded, "Immediately drop these moves to split public opinion and abolish the National Security Law, which would benefit only North Korea."
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Members of an NGO participate in a demonstration protesting the abolition of the National Security Law, on Monday, burning pickets and holding a strike.
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The rally was conducted together with the "10 Million Signature Campaign to Oppose the Abolition of the National Security Law," and during the rally, some participants burnt a 2m-wide, 1.5m-high North Korean flag in back of the stage.
Police mobilized 69 companies -- about 7,000 men -- along with riot police buses, and set up three defensive lines between City Hall and Cheong Wa Dae in preparation for potential situations.
(Chae Seong-jin, dudmie@chosun.com )
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