15 March 2004	Monday	23 Muharram 1425

SEOUL, March 14: Tens of thousands of South Koreans protested on Sunday against the impeachment of their president in an opposition-inspired vote which North Korea described as insulting coup hatched in Washington.

Police said 35,000 people, many waving candles, took part in Sunday's peaceful rally in central Seoul, fewer than on Saturday but still a potent symbol of popular frustration with the vote on Friday to unseat Roh for breaking an election law.

"I came here to impeach those spoiled politicians, who have made huge mistakes and still do not realise their wrongdoings," said Cha Jee-hoon, a 25-year-old university student in Seoul.

North Korea pointed the finger of blame for the first time. "It was none other than the United States that sparked such a disturbing development," the official KCNA news agency quoted a North Korean spokesman as saying. "The US had hatched such a plot for impeachment in South Korea since October."

The spokesman, from the body that oversees relations with the South, did not elaborate on the plot. He said the South Korean opposition had driven the vote through parliament in what amounted to a coup and had insulted the South Korean people.

Friday's vote, amid rowdy scenes in parliament, stunned many and thrust the country into uncertainty. The Constitutional Court has six months to decide whether to uphold the vote, and Prime Minister Goh Kun is acting president during that time.

South Korea underscored its desire to keep its economy on track despite impeachment by saying its finance minister would travel to New York, London and Hong Kong to reassure investors. -Reuters