Thousands of citizens gathered outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday, in subzero temperatures, to mark the anniversary of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short‑lived declaration of martial law.

Bisang Action, a coalition of more than one-thousand-700 progressive groups, staged a rally at 7 p.m., calling for sweeping social reform and the removal of the vestiges of martial law.

Police estimated that about eleven thousand people attended, far exceeding initial expectations. Participants who spoke recalled civilians blocking troops from the National Assembly a year prior, and called for continued reform.

Organizers pledged to address the insurrection and to implement structural reform.

After the rally, at 8:50 p.m., demonstrators marched roughly one-point-five kilometers from the Assembly to the main opposition People Power Party's headquarters.

Across the street, about 200 conservative protesters gathered at 8 p.m. to defend Yoon’s martial law declaration and reenact the proclamation.