Kwon Youngguk Receives Suspended Sentence in First Trial 7 Years After Indictment for Assaulting Police Officer at Rally 10 Years Ago

Kwon Youngguk, leader of the Justice Party, attending the press conference of the three progressive parties and labor social organizations held in front of the Presidential Office on September 18. Justice Party

Kwon Youngguk, leader of the Justice Party, who was indicted for obstructing vehicle traffic and assaulting a police officer during a rally in downtown Seoul ten years ago, was recently given a suspended prison sentence in the first trial.

According to legal sources on October 9, Judge Choi Jiyeon of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 9 handed down a sentence of six months in prison, suspended for one year, to Kwon on September 9.

Kwon was accused of participating as co-head of the Non-Regular Workers’ Movement Headquarters in the “Resolution Rally Against the Deterioration of Labor Market Structure” held near Cheonggyecheon in Jung-gu, Seoul, on September 19, 2015. Along with approximately 3,000 other rally participants, he was charged with blocking all lanes in both directions at the Jongno 3-ga intersection. At another rally on September 23 of the same month, he was also accused of exceeding the reported number of participants, leading an unreported march, ignoring 13 police orders to disperse, and striking a police officer’s head twice with his hand during the police’s attempt to break up the protest.

In 2018, prosecutors indicted Kwon on charges of obstruction of official duties, violation of the Assembly and Demonstration Act, and obstruction of general traffic.

During the trial, Kwon argued that the assault on the police officer occurred while protesting what he claimed was excessive police suppression, including the use of tear spray, and that his hand and arm only made contact with the officer’s head as he tried to block the spray.

However, the court determined that the police had issued advance warnings to disperse, and when the rally did not disperse, they used tear spray according to their superior’s instructions, concluding that the police were lawfully performing their duties at the time.

The court also found, based on the victim officer’s testimony and video evidence, that Kwon did in fact assault the police officer.

All other charges brought by the prosecution were also found to be valid. However, the court acquitted Kwon of the general traffic obstruction charge, stating that he was merely a passive participant in that aspect.

The court stated, “In a democratic society, the freedom of assembly and demonstration must be broadly protected, and there is a need to safeguard the socially disadvantaged.” Nevertheless, it emphasized, “The rights to assembly and demonstration guaranteed by the Constitution and law are not absolute rights that can be exercised in a way that infringes upon or threatens the legal order of the state and the freedoms of ordinary citizens.”

However, the court explained that the sentence took into account that Kwon appeared to have assaulted the officer impulsively after becoming agitated when the police used tear spray during a scuffle between police and protesters at the rally. The court also considered that the degree and consequences of the assault were not severe, and that Kwon had not been indicted for similar offenses since this incident.