Prohibition of Gatherings and Demonstrations from Midnight to 6 AM, Introduction of Drone Evidence Collection

National Police Agency to Promote 'Improvement Measures for Assembly and Demonstration Culture'

The National Police Agency announced on the 21st that it will promote the ‘Measures to Improve Assembly and Demonstration Culture’ to protect constitutional fundamental rights such as the public’s right to peace and traffic rights.

This improvement plan was prepared through joint discussions among related ministries over about three months by the ‘Special Team for Establishing Public Order,’ launched in June and composed of seven ministries including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Police Agency, led by the Minister for Government Policy Coordination. It also reflects the recommendations of the National Proposal Review Committee based on the results of the public participation debate on ‘Strengthening Assembly and Demonstration Requirements and Sanctions,’ held from June 13 to July 3.

The police established a basic policy of guaranteeing lawful assemblies and strictly responding to illegal assemblies, and prepared improvement measures focusing on system reform and strengthening on-site response. First, they will push for an amendment to the Assembly and Demonstration Act to prohibit nighttime assemblies and demonstrations from midnight to 6 a.m. Considering that the Constitutional Court also recognizes the need to protect public peace after midnight, the average sunrise time (6:30 a.m.) was taken into account. The noise measurement method will also be improved. In residential areas, the equivalent noise level measurement time will be shortened from 10 minutes to 5 minutes, and the violation standard for maximum noise level will be reduced from ‘exceeding 3 times within 1 hour’ to ‘exceeding 2 times.’ Additionally, noise standards by location and time will be strengthened by 5 to 10 dB, and a penalty provision will be newly established for violations of restriction notices.

From the stage of prior assembly notification, the police will strengthen consultation procedures by introducing a new process to notify the road management authority of assembly notifications when necessary, enabling appropriate measures. At the same time, they will specify the criteria for restricting assemblies and demonstrations on major roads to increase predictability for organizers and thereby strongly protect lawful assemblies. Furthermore, in consultation with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, they will amend the Outdoor Advertising Act to explicitly limit the exemption period for assembly banners to ‘the actual period during which the assembly is held,’ resolving the problem of banner proliferation such as putting up banners without holding assemblies. Along with this, they will also push to raise penalties for damaging or invading order maintenance lines from ‘imprisonment of up to 6 months or a fine of up to 500,000 won’ to ‘imprisonment of up to 1 year or a fine of up to 1,000,000 won,’ considering consistency with other penalty provisions.

On-site response will also be strengthened. From the stage of receiving assembly notifications, restrictions or prohibitions will be considered for assemblies and demonstrations that clearly seriously infringe on citizens’ fundamental rights or pose a direct threat to public order. In particular, restrictions or prohibitions will be actively considered during weekday rush hours due to the high risk of severe traffic disruption. Moreover, if an assembly or demonstration deteriorates into an illegal assembly that clearly poses a direct danger to public safety, a dispersal order will be issued, and if disobeyed, direct dispersal measures will be taken. For large-scale assemblies, drones with excellent public mobility will be introduced to strongly respond to illegal acts such as violent behavior exceeding the public’s tolerance limit.

If assemblies or demonstrations accompanied by illegality or violence are anticipated, police criminal teams will be deployed in advance, and dedicated investigation teams for assemblies and demonstrations will be operated at each police station, especially in areas where large-scale assemblies and marches are frequent, to enable rapid investigation. The police will actively claim compensation not only for material damage caused by illegal acts during assemblies and demonstrations but also for personal damage to affected police officers. A National Police Agency official stated, “We will continue to promote system improvements and strengthen on-site responses to ensure that citizens’ fundamental rights are not violated by illegal assemblies.”