'Assisting Intrusion into the National Assembly Main Building' Our Republican Party Leader Cho Won-jin Fined 5 Million Won

Cho Won-jin, leader of the Our Republican Party, who was prosecuted on charges including aiding and abetting supporters' attempt to enter the National Assembly main building in opposition to the establishment of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA) and the introduction of a linked proportional representation system, was sentenced to a fine.

On the 18th, Judge Lee Bo-ram of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 5 announced that Cho, who was indicted for aiding and abetting trespassing under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (violent acts) and obstruction of official duties by a special official, was sentenced to a fine of 5 million won. Our Republican Party Secretary-General Oh and supporter Ji were sentenced to fines of 4 million won and 2 million won, respectively.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The court stated the sentencing reasons, saying, "The defendants' crimes were committed jointly in an attempt to enter the National Assembly main building, which ended in failure, and during the process, they showed overwhelming force to the crowd and obstructed the police's official duties, so their culpability is by no means light." However, the court also considered "that the crimes were committed impulsively while expressing political opinions, which somewhat mitigates the motive; and that the peace of the National Assembly main building was not seriously disturbed to the extent that the functions of the National Assembly were paralyzed or the legislative process was hindered."

Earlier, Cho was accused of aiding and abetting when about 200 Our Republican Party members remained in front of the National Assembly main building after a press conference opposing the HCIA establishment bill on December 13, 2019, and attempted to enter the building while staging a sit-in.

At that time, Cho and other attendees clashed physically with the National Assembly security guards who were blocking the entry.

Cho claimed that he only struggled in protest because the National Assembly security guards unjustly blocked his access to the National Assembly main building as a sitting member of the National Assembly. However, the court rejected this, stating, "Such acts cannot be seen merely as protests against blocking a sitting member of the National Assembly from entering. Regarding Cho holding a placard and chanting slogans with the participants, it can be sufficiently recognized as aiding and abetting the participants' determination to commit the crime of trespassing and facilitating the execution of the act."