30-Year-Old Given Probation for Burning Taegeukgi and Hanging Iljangi on Gyeongsul National Humiliation Day

A man in his 30s who burned the Taegeukgi flag hung on a middle school flagpole and raised the Rising Sun flag on the day of the Gyeongsul National Humiliation was sentenced to probation.

On the 16th, Judge Lee Ju-young of the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 17 announced that A (36), who was indicted for desecration of the national flag and trespassing on a building, was sentenced to 10 months in prison with a 3-year probation.

The judge also ordered A to undergo probation and perform 160 hours of community service.

A was non-custodially indicted for secretly entering a middle school in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, at 1:24 a.m. on August 29 last year, taking down the Taegeukgi flag hung on the flagpole, and burning it.

He wrote graffiti on the Taegeukgi with a red pen saying "Dokdo is Japanese territory, Yu Gwansun XXX," and hung the Rising Sun flag on the flagpole instead.

The day of the incident is the day over 100 years ago when Korea lost its sovereignty to Japan. It is called "Gyeongsul National Humiliation Day" (August 29, 1910) to signify national disgrace.

The judge explained the sentencing by saying, "The defendant damaged the national flag, which is a serious offense, and has a prior record of punishment for trespassing and property damage. However, it appears that the mental illness he currently suffers from had some influence on the crime."

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