A massive rally is expected to take place in Seoul on Saturday – calling for Park Geun-hye to resign on the fourth anniversary of her inauguration as South Korean president.

Park, 65, was impeached by the National Assembly on charges related to influence peddling on December 9, 2016. The Constitutional Court's final hearing of the impeachment trial is set to take place on February 27. 

There have been waves of protests across South Korea since last October, when reports linking Park to a corruption scandal emerged. She was accused of extortion, abuse of power, bribery, and colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back the president’s policy initiatives.

Park was once considered a trailblazer, vowing to improve the economy by boosting creativity and entrepreneurship after taking office. Following her election victory in 2013, she promised a "new era" of government and that she would be a "president for the people."

She has striven for unity and prosperity for South Korea while maintaining caution when it comes to the threat of the DPRK.

But Park suffered a sharp drop in public support after the ferry tragedy in 2014 that killed more than 300 people, many of them children on a school trip. Her government was accused of slow and incompetent handling of the rescue operation. 

Still, none of the criticism can compare to the pressure she now faces over the corruption scandal. 

In the early years of Park’s presidency, South Korea and China were close allies. The respective presidents visited each other’s countries. 

A free trade agreement between China and South Korea took effect in 2015, the year which saw bilateral trade hit a record high of 276 billion US dollars.

In 2015, Park was invited to celebrations in China to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Sino-Japanese conflict during World War Two. Analysts said that relations between China and South Korea were off to a good start, after strained ties under previous presidents, Hu Jintao and Lee Myung-Bak.

However, relations took a dramatic turn for the worse last July, when South Korea confirmed plans to deploy the US THAAD anti-missile system. Park said it would provide self-defense against the nuclear threat from the DPRK.

"The two countries share a strong foundation in trade and economic cooperation. But the THAAD problem might create a backlash against Korean projects in China. Investment from Korean companies, like Samsung and Lotte, might also be affected,” warned Su Hao, a professor from China Foreign Affairs University. 

‍(Watch this video for more ups and downs of the bilateral ties.)

With the political turmoil swirling around President Park's corruption scandal continuing, the waters surrounding China-South Korea relations continue to be muddy.