Welcome to BASE21

The police is drawing criticism, having announced their plan to change the Law on Assembly and Demonstration (LAD) for the worse, as soon as Molotov cocktails appeared on Mayday Demonstrations, as though they had been waiting for this very appearance.

On May 2nd, Moo-Young Lee, Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, held a press conference and said, "We plan to make a proposal to revise the LAD to provide for more strict conditions for approval of assembly. We will submit the proposal to the National Assembly at the plenary session later this year."

The main points of the revision bill the police is considering are as follows: obligatory exclusion from a meeting, of persons or organizations with previous record of participation in violent demonstrations; restriction on large-scale meetings and demonstraions in the downtown area on weekends and holidays; strengthened punishment of the persons who violate the "order line"; submission of "letter of committment to maintain public order" along with a notice of an assembly, required by law.

It is only one year since the retrogressive revision of LAD was made on May 24th last year, and the NGOs are nervous. At the previous revision, the police established an "order line" at its will, ignoring the protest of civil and social groups, and expanded the scope in which disperse could be ordered. The LAD, as is, already prohibits meetings within 100 meters of public institutions, such as "main roads," courts, and foreign embassies, and is much more severe than comparable laws in other countries, which has been drawing criticism. Thus, it will be interesting to see how civic and social groups will react to the new police plan for "revision."

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions issued an official statement this day and argued, "The assemblies are already prohibited in many areas because of embassies nearby, and there are already various restrictions such as the condition limiting the number of participants at the time of giving prior notice. So if the LAD is changed for the worse yet again, we will lose all freedom of assembly and demonstration."