G20 sparks debate on nighttime rallies

With the Seoul G20 Summit just a month away, rival parties are once again clashing over the controversial assembly law.

“Public Administration and Security Minister Maeng Hyung-kyu strongly demanded that the assembly law be revised before the G20 Summit,” said Rep. Kim Moo-sung, floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party in a meeting of senior party members Monday.

“It is our concern to keep Seoul and the entire peninsula safe from possibly aggressive non-governmental organizations which may flock here, eying the global summit.”

A simple reinforcement of general security measures is not sufficient and a fundamental law revision is required, Kim said.

Opposition parties, however, said the the GNP’s suggestions were unconstitutional.
National police chief Cho Hyun-oh gives a briefing on security measures for the upcoming G20 Summit on Monday. (Yonhap News)

“It is unreasonable to permanently restrict the people’s basic rights of speech and assembly for the sake of a two-day summit,” said Rep. Chun Jung-bae, former justice minister and supreme council member of the main opposition Democratic Party.

“Such fascistic and anachronistic measures must be stopped and the DP shall take the lead.”

Rep. Cho Bae-sook also accused the GNP of abusing the G20 Summit as an excuse to retrogressively revise the assembly law.

“The GNP’s assembly law revision bill seriously violates the constitutional rights of the people and should be held back by all means,” said DP spokesperson Jeon Hyun-hee.

The Constitutional Court ruled last September that the assembly law clause which forbids outdoor nighttime rallies was not constitutional, for the ambiguity of the term “after sunset and before sunrise.”

As to avoid legal vacuum and social confusion, the court granted the clause temporary effect until the end of June this year.

However, as parties failed to reach an agreement, the clause was totally discarded from July and all restrictions were lifted from outdoor rallies.

The representative GNP bill, submitted by Rep. Cho Jin-hyeong, restricts outdoor rallies from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on the next day.

The opposing DP bill, on the other hand, principally authorizes all nocturnal outdoor rallies, except in residential areas, school zones and military districts.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency decided earlier to make full use of other valid clauses of the assembly law in order to prevent Seoul from the possible chaos caused by sudden rallies, said officials.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)

Source: http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101011000862