Court: "President's Office Is Not Residence... Protest Ban Is Illegal"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court ruled that the police's decision to ban nearby gatherings, viewing the Yongsan presidential office as the presidential residence, was illegal.

On the 12th, the Administrative 13th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Park Jeongdae) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the cancellation lawsuit filed by the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy against the Yongsan Police Chief, stating, "The presidential office cannot be interpreted as the presidential residence under the Assembly and Demonstration Act (the Assembly Act)."

Seoul Yongsan Presidential Office Building
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, in May of last year, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy had reported a press conference and rally in front of the Ministry of National Defense and the War Memorial, advocating for the implementation of inter-Korean and North Korea-US agreements and peace on the Korean Peninsula, but filed an administrative lawsuit after the police banned it.

According to the current Assembly Act, assemblies are prohibited within 100 meters of the "presidential residence." However, problems arose after the presidential office and residence, which were previously located in one place at the Blue House, were separated following the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.

The police banned assemblies by groups, arguing that the presidential office should also be included as the residence, but the court issued a decision last year to suspend the effect of the police's disposition (injunction), stating that the office is not the residence. The same judgment was made in this main lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court ruled in December last year that the provision of the Assembly Act that uniformly prohibits outdoor assemblies and demonstrations within 100 meters of the presidential residence is unconstitutional. Accordingly, if the provision is not amended by May 31, 2024, it will lose its effect.