‘Assault on Police Officer and Insulting Sewol Ferry Victims’ Found Guilty... 8 Months Imprisonment, 2 Years Probation
Jeong Chang-ok, who was indicted for throwing a shoe during former President Moon Jae-in's tenure, was acquitted of obstruction of official duties.
Jung Chang-ok, who was indicted on charges of assaulting police officers during a rally held around Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on August 15, 2020, is attending a detention warrant hearing at the Seoul Central District Court. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) announced on the 3rd that it upheld the lower court's verdict acquitting Jeong of charges including obstruction of official duties. However, the Supreme Court confirmed a sentence of 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation for Jeong on charges of assaulting a police officer and insulting the families of the Sewol ferry victims.
Jeong was arrested on the spot on July 16, 2020, after throwing a shoe at President Moon while leaving the main entrance stairs of the National Assembly building following the opening speech of the 21st National Assembly.
The prosecution applied the charge of obstruction of official duties, claiming that Jeong's act of throwing a shoe disrupted President Moon's official duties, including the National Assembly opening speech.
The first trial acknowledged that "there was direct physical force in throwing a shoe at the President, who is a public official performing official duties," but ruled that "it is difficult to recognize that throwing the shoe caused disruption to the President's official duties." However, the court found Jeong guilty of assaulting a police officer during the August 15, 2020 Gwanghwamun Liberation Day rally and insulting the Sewol ferry victims' families with a speaker in front of the 4·16 Memorial Exhibition Hall in Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi Province, in January of the same year, sentencing him to 10 months in prison with a 2-year probation.
The second trial slightly reduced the sentence to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation. The second trial court ruled, "The National Assembly main building stairs and surrounding area, where the incident occurred, could be entered or stayed in without procedural restrictions, and the defendant was in a calm state even at the moment of throwing the shoe at the President," adding, "Trespassing on a building should be judged based on whether it disrupts the substantial peaceful state of residence, not on whether it is against the resident's will."
The Supreme Court also agreed with the second trial's judgment.
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