Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party on the 11th urged Chong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul mayoral candidate, to step down, releasing a court ruling that shows he was punished in a past case involving the "assault of police officers and a citizen."
On Facebook that day, Joo said, "I am releasing for the first time the ruling in the case where candidate Chong and others assaulted two on-duty police officers and two civilians," and posted a three-page copy of the ruling.
According to the ruling Joo released, in 1995, when Chong was serving as a secretary to the Yangcheon District Office chief, he got into an argument over politics while drinking with A, a National Assembly member's secretary from the Democratic Liberal Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party), and then repeatedly punched and kicked A in the face, causing injuries that required two weeks of treatment, for which he was charged.
The ruling also stated that when responding officers attempted to make a warrantless arrest, Chong and his companions headbutted officer B in the ear and lay down in front of the patrol car. They then grabbed officer C by the collar and struck the officer's face, and kicked citizen D, who was assisting the police, in the chest. In the process, B, C and D suffered injuries requiring 10 days, two weeks and two weeks of treatment, respectively, according to the record.
At the first trial, the Seoul District Court Southern Branch sentenced Chong to a fine of 3 million won on charges including assault and obstruction of the performance of official duties.
Joo said, "Can a Seoul mayoral candidate so completely ignore public authority?" and added, "This was a case that warranted immediate detention, yet it ended with a lenient fine. Was the case swept under the rug through power?" He continued, "Chong has no right to tell Seoul residents to obey the law and respect public authority," urging, "Resign immediately."
Chong had previously stated his position on the case. In December last year on Facebook, Chong said, "Thirty years ago, there was a dispute with a National Assembly member's secretary from the Democratic Liberal Party over differences in perception about the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement," and added, "In the process, I did cause harm to the secretary and to police officers."
However, he noted, "After being booked without detention, the case concluded with a fine, and I apologized to the parties involved immediately after the incident and received forgiveness," calling it "a matter that ended in reconciliation." He added, "I still take the immaturity of that time as an opportunity for reflection."