Police Commission Halts Ban on Protests in Front of the Presidential Office

The Seoul Seodaemun-gu Police Agency building Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The police attempted to legislate a bill that prohibits assemblies and demonstrations on roads in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office when traffic volume is high, but the National Police Commission has put the brakes on it during its review.

According to the police on the 16th, the National Police Commission (NPC), the police review and decision-making body, resolved at its plenary meeting on the 7th to resubmit the proposed amendment to the "Enforcement Decree of the Assembly and Demonstration Act" (Assembly Act Enforcement Decree) containing such provisions. A resolution to resubmit means a decision that the bill under review has some flaws and should be supplemented and resubmitted. The NPC demanded that the police, who prepared the amendment to the Assembly Act Enforcement Decree, "supplement the criteria and reasons for the scope of regulation in more detail and resubmit," arguing that it excessively restricts the freedom of assembly and demonstration.

The NPC particularly pointed out the part of the amendment designating Itaewon-ro in Yongsan-gu, the road in front of the Presidential Office, as a road where assemblies and demonstrations are restricted, stating, "At this point, restricting assemblies and demonstrations on the road in question may be seen as an excessive restriction on the people's freedom." According to Article 12 of the current Assembly Act, the chief of the competent police station may prohibit or restrict assemblies or demonstrations on major roads in major cities designated by Presidential Decree if deemed necessary for "traffic flow."

The amendment to the enforcement decree prepared by the police includes adding 16 roads, including Itaewon-ro near the Yongsan Presidential Office, to the major roads where assemblies and demonstrations can be prohibited or restricted under this provision. Conversely, 14 existing roads where assemblies and demonstrations have not been held in the past five years or where traffic has improved compared to the past were excluded. This has led some to criticize that the intention is to completely block assemblies and demonstrations in front of the Presidential Office.

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