A man in his 40s has been sentenced to prison in the first trial for storming the courthouse and committing acts of violence on the day of the pre-arrest interrogation for former President Yoon Suk-yeol. On May 28, the Seoul Western District Court’s Criminal Division 6 (Presiding Judge Kim Jin-sung) sentenced Cho (41) to one year in prison for charges including damage to special public property and unlawful entry into special buildings. Cho was put on trial for smashing a glass bottle against a window at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu on January 19, and entering the court premises.
The court criticized the act as stemming from an obsession to immediately respond to what was perceived as a political conspiracy regarding the issuance of an arrest warrant by the judiciary. The court acknowledged Cho’s admission of guilt and supporting evidence to convict him but took into account that it was a solitary and impulsive act, and that Cho had shown sufficient remorse when determining the sentence.
On the same day, in a separate case, the Seoul Western District Court’s Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Park Ji-won) sentenced Park (37) to one year in prison with a two-year suspension and 120 hours of community service for assaulting reporters during the courthouse violence. Park was found to have obstructed an MBC video journalist filming on the street in front of the court, demanding they pull out a memory card, damaging the camera, and kicking the journalist, causing injuries requiring two weeks of treatment.
The court condemned Park’s use of collective power to assault an individual merely due to their association with a specific media outlet, indicating that the nature of the crime was severe. However, it noted mitigating factors such as the lack of intention to invade the court, the impulsive nature of the crime, the apparently lack of usable footage on the missing memory card, the minor nature of the injuries, and the victim’s lack of desire for punishment when determining the sentence.
A total of 96 defendants face trials related to the courthouse violence. Recently, consecutive guilty verdicts have been issued. Some defendants who assaulted journalists and police officers or entered the court without permission received sentences of 10 months or suspended sentences of one to one and a half years. Two others accused of breaching the court and damaging property were sentenced to one and a half years and one year, respectively. However, disagreements on trial procedures and evidence admissibility have been raised by some defendants, suggesting potential prolonged legal proceedings.