Supreme Court Confirms 1.5 Million Won Fine for Poet Song Kyung-dong for Hosting Unreported Assembly

Poet Song Kyung-dong, who was prosecuted for organizing an unreported rally in 2015, has been sentenced to a fine.

According to the legal community on the 5th, the Supreme Court's 1st Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) upheld the original ruling that found Song guilty of organizing an unreported rally in violation of the Assembly and Demonstration Act (hosting an unreported rally and violating a noise maintenance order), sentencing him to a fine of 1.5 million won.

Poet Song Kyung-dong.

The court explained the reason for dismissing the appeals from both the prosecutor and Song, stating, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience or exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, nor is there a misinterpretation of the law regarding the violation of the Assembly and Demonstration Act or joint perpetration."

Song was prosecuted in October 2016 on charges of organizing an outdoor rally attended by about 50 people in Cheongun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on February 7, 2015, without notifying the competent police station. He was also accused of causing damage to nearby shops by generating noise exceeding the daytime noise standard (75db) for non-residential areas through the use of a loudspeaker during the rally.

At the time, Song, who was an executive member of the "Joint Countermeasures Committee for the Victory of Kiryung Irregular Female Workers," demanded the abolition of layoffs and irregular employment systems and called for resolving the treatment issues of irregular workers affiliated with telecommunications companies during the rally.

The first-instance court recognized Song's guilt for organizing an unreported rally and sentenced him to a fine of 1.5 million won. During the trial, Song claimed that he only participated in a press conference that did not require notification and denied organizing an outdoor rally, but this was not accepted.

However, the court acquitted him of the charge of violating the police's noise maintenance order, reasoning that the police officer did not measure the wind speed at the time, so the noise might have included wind sounds.

Song appealed, but the second-instance court's judgment was the same.

The court stated, "It was indeed an outdoor rally conducted by occupying the road in a place frequented by an unspecified number of citizens," adding, "Considering the number of participants, picketing, and chanting slogans, it cannot be regarded as a rally that poses very little risk of disturbing public peace and order and thus requires no prior measures."

Both the prosecutor and Song filed appeals, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals, stating there was no error in the second-instance ruling.

Three civic activists who were prosecuted alongside Song on charges such as leading illegal protests or assaulting police officers also had their suspended prison sentences or fines finalized.

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