Court Dismisses 'Gaseyeon' Request to Prohibit Funeral of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon (葬)... Funeral Ceremony Expected to Proceed as Scheduled Tomorrow

On the 12th, one day before the funeral of the late Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, visitors continued to pay their respects at the Seoul City Hall citizen memorial altar. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The court dismissed the injunction request to prohibit holding the funeral of the late Mayor Park Won-soon as a Seoul Metropolitan City Funeral (葬). Accordingly, Mayor Park's memorial service scheduled for the 13th can proceed as planned.

The Administrative Court of Seoul, Administrative Division 6 (Chief Judge Lee Seong-yong) dismissed on the 12th the injunction request filed by 227 citizens, including Mr. Kim, against the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Dismissing means that if a lawsuit or application does not meet the requirements, the court ends the trial procedure without judging the plaintiff's main claim or the applicant's purpose of application.

This injunction request was represented by lawyer Kang Yong-seok, who operates the conservative YouTube channel ‘Garosero Research Institute’ (Gaseyeon).

Earlier, Gaseyeon claimed that the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to hold the funeral as a Seoul Metropolitan City Funeral without legal grounds, arguing that there were procedural issues.

On the other hand, the Seoul Metropolitan Government countered that "it was lawfully decided after reviewing relevant regulations," and accused Gaseyeon of making an unreasonable attack to tarnish the funeral.

In particular, the Seoul Metropolitan Government pointed out that Gaseyeon's injunction request, filed as part of a 'resident lawsuit' criticizing the expenditure of public funds, had procedural problems because they did not file a prior audit request, which is a prerequisite.

The court accepted the Seoul Metropolitan Government's claim that the applicants lacked standing to file the injunction and dismissed the injunction request.

The funeral committee for Mayor Park plans to hold the memorial service online at 8:30 a.m. on the 13th, considering cooperation with COVID-19 prevention measures.