[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Officials from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) who held a mass rally with thousands of participants in downtown Seoul on Liberation Day in 2020, when large gatherings were banned to prevent the spread of COVID-19, were sentenced to fines in the first trial.
On the 20th, Judge Jeong Jong-geon of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 9 sentenced Kim Jae-ha, former emergency committee chairman of KCTU, to a fine of 4 million won for violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act and other charges. Other KCTU union members who were co-defendants were fined 2 million won each.
On August 15, 2020, KCTU held the "8.15 Workers' Rally" around Bosingak in Jongno-gu, Seoul, demanding the implementation of inter-Korean agreements, suspension of South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, and a halt to worker layoffs. The organizers estimated that about 2,000 people participated in the rally. At the time, the Seoul city government issued an administrative order banning the rally due to concerns over COVID-19 spread, and the police also notified the ban, but KCTU proceeded with the event. Subsequently, conservative groups filed complaints against former emergency committee chairman Kim and others, and the prosecution indicted them in July last year.
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