'13 People Gathered Violating COVID-19 Gathering Ban: 50s Woman in Door-to-Door Sales Receives Probation'

Seoul Medical Center Screening Clinic in Jungnang-gu, Seoul. The photo is unrelated to the article content. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court has suspended the sentence of a fine for a woman in her 50s accused of violating the Seoul Metropolitan Government's assembly ban order related to COVID-19 by gathering multiple people for door-to-door sales.

According to the legal community on the 11th, Judge Joo Jin-am of Criminal Division 15 at the Seoul Central District Court recently gave a suspended sentence of a 300,000 KRW fine to A (51, female), an employee of a door-to-door sales company, who was indicted for violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. A suspended sentence means that for defendants with minor offenses, the court postpones the sentencing for a certain period, and if no specific incidents occur during that time, the sentence is waived.

Earlier, A was brought to trial on charges of gathering a total of 13 people, including herself, around 1 p.m. on July 23 last year in a building in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to sell food products such as beef bone soup. At that time, Seoul had issued an assembly ban order for special sales sectors such as door-to-door sales, sponsorship visits, and multi-level marketing businesses to prevent further community spread of COVID-19.

In court, A's defense attorney argued, "The defendant was merely an employee of a door-to-door sales company and did not violate the assembly ban order," adding, "If responsibility is imposed on the defendant, who is only an employee, there is a risk that business owners may shift legal business responsibilities onto employees in the future." A also said, "I was thoroughly investigated at the police station, so it is very unfair and absurd to be put on trial."

The court found A guilty of the charges. The court pointed out, "Considering that among the 13 people gathered at the scene, the defendant was the only company employee, it appears that the defendant went beyond merely providing passive labor at the workplace under the employer's instructions and committed the offense in this case."

However, the court noted, "The defendant was not a business owner or management official but an employee who participated somewhat passively in the offense while working, and taking into account that this is a first offense," and suspended the sentence of a 300,000 KRW fine.

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