"315 Assembly Restrictions in 1 Year and 5 Months of Yoon Administration Compared to 2 Cases in Moon Administration"

Lawyer Kwon Young-guk, MBC Radio Interview
"Police Ban on Assemblies Becomes Routine... De Facto Assembly Permit System"

Attorney Kwon Young-guk criticized on the 18th that the police have been able to ban assemblies and demonstrations near the Presidential Office on roads for traffic flow reasons, saying, "During the previous administration's four years, there were only two cases of banning assemblies and demonstrations due to major road traffic flow, but the current administration has banned or restricted 315 assemblies in just one year and five months."

Kwon, who serves as the head of the human rights monitoring lawyers group for assemblies and demonstrations at the 'Lawyers for a Democratic Society,' appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that day and argued, "This number clearly shows how arbitrarily the police are partially banning or restricting assemblies during rush hours or due to traffic inconvenience."

According to the partial amendment ordinance of the Assembly and Demonstration Act (Assembly Act), which was promulgated and enforced on the 17th, the chief of the competent police station can ban assemblies and demonstrations or impose conditions to maintain traffic order on 'major roads' in major cities, including 11 roads such as Itaewon-ro and Seobinggo-ro surrounding the Yongsan Presidential Office and the official residence, if deemed necessary for traffic flow.

The photo shows a civic group holding a rally in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 17th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Attorney Kwon interpreted this amendment ordinance as "the police confirming through the ordinance that they will strictly control assemblies in the surrounding areas."

According to Attorney Kwon, in addition to the Presidential Office, the amendment ordinance allows banning assemblies and demonstrations on nearby roads around ▲courts ▲prosecutor's offices ▲Samsung ▲Hyundai Kia Motors, among others.

Kwon said, "The roads included this time are mainly Itaewon-ro passing through the Yongsan Presidential Office, and additionally Gangnam-daero and Seocho-daero are included. This means the Supreme Court and the prosecutor's office are included, and then it connects to Yeomgok Intersection on Gangnam-daero, which includes Samsung Seocho Building and Hyundai Kia Motors buildings."

Attorney Kwon pointed out, "The police have almost normalized banning or partially banning assemblies for reasons such as major roads, rush hours, or nighttime assemblies. Every time this happens, we file injunction applications with the court. It has practically become a de facto assembly permit system where assemblies are held based on court decisions."

He added, "Even though courts continue to rule these bans unlawful, the police keep imposing the same bans or restrictions. If this accumulates, we are actively considering filing constitutional complaints against the law."

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