Hong Joon-pyo: "Will Hold Queer Groups and Daegu Police Chief Legally Responsible"

Queer Festival Organizing Committee and Participation Solidarity Counterattack Against Daegu City's Accusation

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo stated on the 12th, "I will hold legally accountable the queer organizations and the Daegu Police Chief for conspiring to obstruct traffic by occupying the road for 10 hours without any court ruling and injuring three Daegu city officials who attempted an emergency enforcement."

Mayor Hong had clashed with the police over the issue of road occupation during the Queer Culture Festival held around Dongseong-ro, Daegu, on the 17th of last month. On the 11th, the Daegu Queer Culture Festival Organizing Committee and Daegu Participation Solidarity announced their intention to file a complaint with the prosecution against Mayor Hong and Daegu city for not permitting the road occupation. It appears that Mayor Hong is also preparing a legal response.

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo is speaking at the site of the administrative enforcement of the Daegu Queer Culture Festival held in the public transportation-only zone in Jung-gu, Daegu, on the morning of the 17th. 2023.6.17
Photo by Yonhap News

In a post on Facebook that day, Mayor Hong said, "I was going to let it go, but seeing the absurd behavior of those who are filing a complaint against Daegu city in a brazen manner, I cannot help but file a complaint with the prosecution against them for abuse of authority, special obstruction of official duties causing injury, and conspiracy to obstruct traffic."

He added, "It is regrettable that this situation arose due to the ignorance of the Daegu Police Chief regarding the efforts Daegu city made during the Moon Jae-in administration to rectify the normalization of illegal road occupation protests and demonstrations."

He further stated, "If South Korea becomes a country where illegality and mob rule become normalized, social order will be disrupted, and the inconvenience to the people and citizens will reach its peak," and expressed hope that "this measure will serve as an opportunity to restore order in the country's assembly and demonstration regulations and eradicate illegal and mob-rule protests."

During the Queer Festival, Mayor Hong and Daegu city did not grant permission for road occupation and blocked the entry of festival stage vehicles into the venue. The police, however, took the position that legally reported assemblies can use the roads designated as assembly locations without obtaining road occupation permits, leading to a clash.

Meanwhile, the National Police Agency stated that there is no issue with the Daegu police's response in preventing Daegu city's administrative enforcement to allow the Queer Culture Festival to proceed.

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