Park Beom-gye: "Signs of court disturbance existed earlier... Yoon Sang-hyun's mention of 'leniency' was the catalyst"

"Judge Cha Eun-kyung Requested Police Protection...
She Must Have Been Terrified"

Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the supporters of President Yoon Seok-yeol who caused a disturbance at the Seoul Western District Court immediately after the issuance of an arrest warrant for President Yoon, saying, "There were signs of violence even before," and added, "People like Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, saying 'it will be a warning' and 'he will be released soon' was the trigger for this disturbance."

On the 20th, Park said on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "On the afternoon of the 18th, 17 supporters of President Yoon also attempted to climb over the court wall."

He emphasized, "Representative Yoon must take responsibility in history." He pointed out, "There are cases where university students are detained during protests and then released after a day, but this protest is different in nature. The subject of the arrest warrant is the sitting president accused of being the ringleader of a rebellion." He continued, "It could have turned into a situation like the expansion of the emergency martial law on May 17, 1980, when innocent citizens of Gwangju died," and added, "This cannot be compared to other issues."

On the morning of the 19th, when President Yoon Seok-yeol was arrested on charges of being the leader of an insurrection, some supporters stormed the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Near the back gate of the Western District Court, police tried to disperse the protesting supporters of President Yoon, but the supporters blocked them. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Regarding Chief Judge Cha Eun-kyung's request for police protection, Park said, "At 3 a.m., 40,000 people surrounded the court, about 100 broke the outer wall, seized police shields, or caused injuries," and added, "I don't know how she escaped while they were looking for Chief Judge Cha, but she must have been in a state close to terror." Park also said, "All the judges, including Chief Judge Cha, must be worried, thinking 'Why has the country come to this?'" and added, "The cause is President Yoon."

Meanwhile, on the 18th, Representative Yoon said to the supporters gathered in front of the Western District Court, "Our 17 young people are in the detention center after climbing over the wall, so I talked to the officials," and "I think they will probably be released soon." This statement by Representative Yoon was criticized as the spark for the riot at the Western District Court.

In response, Representative Yoon explained through social media (SNS), "I have always said that there should be no conflict between the police, protesters, and state institutions," and "(My statement about the warning on the 18th) was just me looking into the situation after the families of the 17 students and young people who were detained for climbing over the court wall asked me to check the situation." He added, "The spark for the unfortunate incident that occurred at the Western District Court in the early morning of the 19th was the unprecedented event of the president's arrest and the angry public sentiment, not my words or actions."