'Rail Union Arrest Obstruction' Former Unified Progressive Party Lawmakers Kim Mi-hee and Kim Jae-yeon Acquitted in First Trial

by Cho Seongpill

Published 27 Aug.2021 15:23(KST)

Former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers Kim Jae-yeon (center) and Kim Mi-hee (right) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers who were prosecuted for obstructing the police from arresting the union leadership during the 2013 railway union strike were acquitted.

Judge Go So-young of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25 acquitted former lawmakers Kim Mi-hee and Kim Jae-yeon, who were charged with obstruction of official duties. The court stated, "The police forcibly attempted to enter despite there being no urgent circumstances that made it difficult to obtain a warrant before searching the Kyunghyang Shinmun building," and "The police's search of the building cannot be considered a lawful execution of official duties, so even if the defendants acted as alleged, the charges do not stand."

Earlier, the two former lawmakers were indicted for illegally blocking the police's entry by forming a scrum in front of the entrance of the Kyunghyang Shinmun building in Jung-gu, Seoul, where the headquarters office of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is located, on December 22, 2013.