Prime Minister Jeong, "Zero Tolerance for Illegal Gatherings" ... Reviewing Police Response Situation

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun visited the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 3rd and spoke after receiving a report on the response to the National Foundation Day rally from Police Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Prime Minister Jeong Se-gyun visited the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the 3rd to check the response situation for the National Foundation Day gatherings.

At this occasion, Prime Minister Jeong ordered, "Legal assemblies are rights guaranteed by the Constitution and should be respected, but please respond with a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal gatherings."

This National Foundation Day, most assembly applications from conservative groups were denied, and the court only allowed small-scale 'drive-thru' gatherings with up to 9 vehicles at two locations in Seoul.

The police strengthened their preparedness by setting up checkpoints at 90 entry points to Seoul city to prevent sudden illegal gatherings or protests outside the permitted areas.

Encouraging the police officers, Prime Minister Jeong said, "The Chuseok holiday will be a critical moment for quarantine measures amid the war against COVID-19," and urged, "Please do your best in responding to the assemblies."

He continued, "I have been losing sleep, deeply worried that COVID-19 might spread nationwide due to the mass migration during the holiday, making contact tracing difficult," and repeatedly emphasized, "The entire nation must not suffer because of some citizens who insist on holding illegal gatherings."

Prime Minister Jeong stated, "Quarantine is the economy. If we fail to overcome COVID-19, self-employed people and small business owners will suffer severe damage," and added, "Please take pride in the police efforts for quarantine, which are by no means in vain."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.