'Illegal Assembly' Yang Kyung-soo Detention Review Hearing Concludes, Decision Expected as Early as Today

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The court hearing to decide whether to release Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), who is accused of leading a large-scale rally in downtown Seoul, concluded in about 50 minutes.

On the 15th, the Criminal Appeals Division 1-1 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Kim Jaeyoung, Song Hyeyoung, and Jo Jungrae) conducted a detention review hearing for Chairman Yang for approximately 50 minutes in the afternoon. A detention review is a procedure where a detained suspect challenges the legality of their detention and requests the court to reconsider.

Previously, Chairman Yang was booked on charges including leading several illegal protests from May to July (violations of the Assembly and Demonstration Act, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, and general traffic obstruction). Notably, about 8,000 people reportedly attended the National Workers' Rally held in downtown Seoul on July 3, according to the organizers' estimates. The police secured custody of him on the 2nd, 20 days after the court issued the detention warrant, and transferred him to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 6th.

Before the hearing, Chairman Yang's defense attorney stated, "The charge of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, which the prosecution intended to indict, has a high risk of being unconstitutional," and added, "Most of the applicable charges carry fines as the actual sentencing, so there is no need to continue detention."

Meanwhile, it is standard procedure to issue a decision to accept or reject the detention review within 24 hours from the end of the hearing. Accordingly, the decision on whether to release Chairman Yang is expected to be made as early as this evening.

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