Park Kyung-suk, the representative of the National Coalition for the Elimination of Discrimination against People with Disabilities (National Coalition), was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence after being indicted for holding a rally without reporting it and obstructing bus operations.
According to the legal community on the 18th, the Supreme Court's third division (Chief Justice Lee Heung-gu) confirmed the first-instance ruling which sentenced Park to 4 months in prison with a 2-year suspension for violations of the law on assembly and demonstrations and for obstruction of business.
Park was indicted for holding a rally with about 20 members of the National Coalition near a bus stop in Maronnier Park, Jongno District, Seoul, in April 2021 without notifying authorities. He was also charged with using a steel chain to connect his body to the front door of a bus, preventing it from operating.
Following the first trial, the second trial also sentenced Park to 4 months in prison with a 2-year suspension. The second trial court ruled that "the rally was held unlawfully without proper reporting procedures" and that "the act of forcibly halting bus operations, even considering it was part of the demonstration in terms of methods and content, falls under the definition of 'power' in the crime of obstruction of business."
Regarding the claim by Park's side that it was a "justifiable act," the court noted, "The rally was held without prior notification, the method of the rally was highly dangerous, and this caused real obstacles to citizens' use of public transportation, making it impossible to recognize it as a justifiable act."
Although Park challenged the ruling, the Supreme Court found no error in the original judgment and rejected the appeal.