Protesters celebrate in Seoul over Park Geun-hye impeachment

Demonstrations in Seoul come as court prepares to hold
 final hearing on president's impeachment over corruption scandal.

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans have held rival
protests in Seoul over the impeachment of President Park
Geun-hye on the fourth anniversary of her swearing into 
office.

About 17,000 riot police were mobilised on Saturday, setting
up barricades with their buses at the centre of the capital to
separate Park's supporters from those opposing her.

Anti-Park protesters, carrying yellow balloons and waving
banners, marched in three directions.

One column proceeded towards the presidential Blue 
House as another group headed to the Constitutional Court, which has to decide whether to endorse or reject Park's
impeachment.

A third group passed by the headquarters of the powerful,
family-run business groups - known as chaebols - including
SK, Lotte and Hanwha.







Park was impeached by parliament in December over a
corruption scandal that has since brought millions of
 people on to the streets in mass protests.

The de-facto head of South Korea's giant Samsung Group 
Lee Jae-yong was arrested last week, a first among
 business tycoons embroiled in the scandal surrounding the president and her confidante, Choi Soon-sil. "Arrest other tycoons," the protesters chanted.

The chaebols directed millions of dollars into two
 foundations controlled by Choi.

They all denied providing funds in return for favours, but
suggested that they regularly came under pressure from
 high- level political circles.

Park has seen her approval ratings fall from 67 percent to 5
percent as the country has been rocked by the scandal.

The Constitutional Court will on Monday hold its final
 hearing on Park's impeachment. The verdict is expected to
 be handed down before March 13.

If the court upholds the impeachment, Park will be 
removed from her post immediately and a presidential election must be held within 60 days.

Not too far from the anti-Park protest, the president's
supporters, mostly senior citizens, waved national flags and
chanted slogans urging the court to nullify the impeachment.

Otherwise it would face a "bloody" civil resistance, they said.
Anti-Park protest organisers claimed a one million turnout and
pro-Park supporters said they had attracted three million.

Police stopped issuing their own estimates and an AFP
journalist on the scene put both numbers around 100,000

each or less.