hankyoreh

Jun Kwang-hoon, head pastor of Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul’s Seongbuk District, leads an anti-Moon rally near Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square on Aug. 15. (Yonhap News)

Right-wing groups in South Korea that are planning political rallies on Oct. 3 have announced a “drive-thru” style vehicle parade, creating a new dilemma for the country’s police. While legal precedent says that even motorcade demonstrations must also be registered with the police, there are no concrete regulations about such protests in the era of COVID-19.

On Sept. 23, South Korea’s National Police Agency (NPA) disclosed that it had received 909 applications for demonstrations in downtown Seoul on Oct. 3, which Koreans celebrate as National Foundation Day. Since the city of Seoul has issued an administrative order banning public gatherings of 10 or more people through Oct. 11, the police have rejected 120 applications for demonstrations that would involve 10 or more people or that would take place near Gwanghwamun Square, in downtown Seoul.

“If illegal rallies are held in locations outside banned areas without prior notification, we will immediately take measures to disperse the demonstrators and arrest those who refuse to comply. We will also collect evidence about those who can’t be arrested on the spot to ensure they’re strictly prosecuted,” NPA Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong said during a press conference on Sept. 21.

Conservative groups are pushing back against the police’s hardline position by filing multiple petitions asking courts to issue injunctions against the police ban on rallies on Oct. 3. Choi In-sik, secretary-general of an emergency action committee for participants in the Aug. 15 rallies, spoke with the Hankyoreh on Wednesday about the demonstrators’ plans.

“For now, we’re waiting to see whether the administrative court will accept our petition for an injunction. Since the government is blaming the participants in the Aug. 15 rallies on its policy failure in controlling COVID-19, we’ll use all constitutionally guaranteed methods to hold the National Foundation Day rallies even if our petition isn’t accepted by the administrative court,” Choi said.

Some conservative politicians — who are worried about giving the government any pretext for taking action — have even suggested holding a sort of “drive-thru rally,” with each vehicle in the parade being driven by a single demonstrator.

“I think this rally in Gwanghwamun should be held as a drive-thru. If you’re alone in your vehicle, it has nothing to do with COVID-19,” argued Kim Jin-tae, a former lawmaker with the People Power Party, in a post on his Facebook page. But there are still concerns that such a rally could cause another wave of COVID-19 cases given the risk of infections in smaller get-togethers often held after the rally.

Because even a motorcade can be regarded as an assembly or demonstration, under legal precedent, the police intend to crack down on any gathering of 10 or more vehicles. But since vehicles in the demonstration would be in motion, rather than staying in one place, it might be difficult to prove illegality.

“Vehicles carrying flags or stickers with slogans on them will be regarded as demonstrators, which means that 10 or more can’t gather together. For those vehicles to move in a straight line might be a violation of the Road Traffic Act,” said a police spokesperson.

“But given the lack of regulations about motorcade rallies, we are giving this matter a careful review.”

By Lee Jae-ho, staff reporter

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