Prosecutors Request Arrest Warrant for Yang Kyung-soo, Chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Over Forcing Illegal Urban Rally

Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, who pushed ahead with the July 3rd National Workers' Rally despite the quarantine authorities' demand to cancel the gathering, is appearing on the 4th for a summons investigation at the Jongno Police Station in Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] A detention warrant has been requested for Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the National Democratic Labor Union Federation (Minju Chong), who is accused of holding a large-scale rally in violation of quarantine guidelines in downtown Seoul.

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office requested a detention warrant for Chairman Yang on charges including violation of the Assembly and Demonstration Act and the Infectious Disease Prevention Act, after holding a pre-warrant interview with the Minju Chong lawyers the day before.

Since the end of July, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has been implementing the 'Police Pre-Detention Warrant Prosecutor Interview System,' where suspects for whom the police have requested pre-detention warrants are summoned and directly interviewed and investigated by prosecutors, to strengthen judicial control and human rights protection functions of the prosecution.

Chairman Yang did not attend the approximately 30-minute interview held from 4 p.m. His lawyers reportedly submitted a written opinion during the interview, requesting the rejection of the detention warrant request.

Earlier, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's July 3 Illegal Rally Investigation Headquarters applied to the prosecution on the 6th for a pre-detention warrant against Chairman Yang on charges of leading a large-scale nationwide workers' rally in the Jongno area of Seoul (violation of the Assembly and Demonstration Act, violation of the Infectious Disease Prevention Act, obstruction of general traffic, etc.).

The police also included charges related to violations of the Assembly and Demonstration Act concerning Minju Chong-hosted rallies held in May and June of this year, including the workers' rally on the 3rd of last month, in the detention warrant application.

Previously, when Chairman Yang continuously refused to appear, the police applied for an arrest warrant, but it was once rejected by the prosecution. Chairman Yang voluntarily appeared at Jongno Police Station on the 4th of this month and was investigated for about five and a half hours.

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