It was an awesome display of public outrage.
More than 150,000 people lined the streets of central Seoul that look towards the country's imposing National Assembly, calling for their president to be removed from office.
In the biting cold they demonstrated for hours, at times with the kind of energy and atmosphere you'd expect to find at a music festival — waving battery powered lights, singing call and response, with everything from K-Pop to EDM on the playlist.
As the impeachment ballot dragged on the crowd chanted "vote for it … hurry up".
But the ruling party didn't listen.
Martial law declaration sparks public outrage
All week, pressure has been mounting.
On Tuesday night, in a sudden, dangerous move President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in South Korea.
He blamed "the threat of North Korean communist forces", claiming he aimed "to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order".
It wasn't long before members of the public turned out in front of the National Assembly to protest the shocking decision.
They were met by police and military, some of who broke into the parliament, as aides barricaded doors so opposition politicians could convene and vote down the declaration.
In total, martial law lasted all of six hours.
But it was a traumatic turn of events for a country still deeply scarred by the war that tore the nation in half and families apart.
"Last night after I heard the news I couldn't sleep at all, and so this morning, I just decided to come here," Park Min Kyun, 35, told the ABC on Wednesday, as protests grew outside the parliament in the initial aftermath of the declaration.
"It shows that our democracy is not as strong as we thought, and I think this is the time for us to review our history and make sure that this kind of thing will never happen again."
Beyond President Yoon's initial invocation of the North, a remarkable part of the last few days was the absolute lack of mention of South Korea's nuclear-armed neighbour.
Many theorised that Mr Yoon's motivations were in fact, purely domestic and even personal — that he made the declaration to wrest back control of a government that had been stifled by the opposition-controlled parliament, and to protect both himself and his wife, who's been wrapped up in her own set of scandals.
"That kind of thing should not happen in a democratic country,' said Han So Ri, 27, at a candlelight vigil on Thursday night.
"I think he tried to control the whole nation, just because of his personal issues."
Rumours had swirled throughout the week.
On Friday, both sides of politics reported they had received information that martial law could be declared by the president a second time.
Local media reported that the Military Human Rights Center claimed that commanders from multiple army units had been told "to prepare for an emergency call-up until the day after the impeachment vote", citing reports from officers.
But the acting defence minister later came out to assure the public this would not happen.
The same day, the leader of Mr Yoon's own party, Han Dong-hoon, announced that he'd learned the president had ordered the arrest of several prominent politicians during the brief martial law period, including Mr Han himself, the leader of the main opposition party Lee Jae-myung and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, also a member of the opposition.
Mr Yoon apparently denied these reports when he met with Mr Han, but clearly he wasn't convinced.
After initially backing the president, this swayed Mr Han to call for Mr Yoon to be suspended as soon as possible "in order to protect the Republic of Korea and its people".
Massive protests
The amount of organising that occurred over the week has been remarkable.
Every night there were huge protests, candlelight vigils and marches through the city, as the public ramped up the pressure on the president to resign and his party to vote to impeach him.
"I'm very moved by the huge number of people coming here," said a young woman at Friday night's protest.
"Of course, what happened with the martial law is not proud thing, but I feel proud myself watching this many people come here with the one wish."
It all culminated in the huge, peaceful demonstration that took place on Saturday.
For some there, the events of the week had shaken their faith in the country's democracy.
"I think it's tragic," said 19-year-old high school student Seo Ja Un through tears.
"I've lived in a democratic country my whole life and suddenly I feel it's not democratic anymore."
"Because I'm a proud Korean, I feel some kind of obligation to come out and join with others when we see our country going in the wrong direction," added her friend, Yoon Se Hee.
But others were full of pride to be standing among so many fellow citizens fighting for the same cause.
"On the day that martial law was implemented, at some point we were in danger," said Choi Jae-sik, who worked for a former Democratic Party politician.
"But look at all these people, they are the ones who prevented the worst case.
"This is a kind of fever we have to go through to get more mature democracy in our Korean society."
Impeachment fails after ruling party boycott
Watching on as a foreigner, it was hard not to want the people's voices to win out.
In this day and age, what could be a better endorsement of democracy, and in a country where the system so many western countries take for granted has been in place for less than 40 years.
But that wasn't how things turned out.
Despite the leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) Mr Han admitting that the president's time in office needs to come to a swift end, the party still opposed the impeachment motion.
All but one member of the PPP left the chamber ahead of the impeachment vote on Saturday evening, boycotting the motion.
Two other PPP politicians returned, but without a handful more the bill could not pass.
The speaker let the vote run for around three hours before calling it off.
"I feel devastated as a citizen of South Korea," said Choi Jeong Min.
"So many people shed their blood, sweat and tears to make this country to be democratic and sacrificed their lives, too.
"I personally have a two-year-old son, and I feel shame, shame to him."
The full breadth of political consequences are yet to play out.
The president apologised to the nation on Saturday morning, but stopped short of resigning.
He said the martial law declaration was an act of desperation as president and assured citizens it wouldn't be happening again.
"In the process, I caused anxiety and inconvenience to the people. I am deeply sorry and sincerely apologise to the people," Mr Yoon said in the televised address.
"I will leave plans to stabilise the political situation, including my term, [up] to our party."
It seems the ruling party is intent on Mr Yoon's presidency ending via his resignation or some means other than impeachment.
But the opposition is undeterred. It has already announced plans to introduce another impeachment motion on Wednesday and every week until they succeed.
"I think [the politicians who boycotted the vote] are cowards," said 27-year-old Da Young Ryu, as she was leaving Saturday night's protest.
"People elected them as a lawmaker, and you expect them to reflect what people are thinking, but they didn't do that tonight and that makes us angry.
"We will never surrender until we see the president impeached."
