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Seoul Court Fines Lawmakers Over 2019 Assembly Clash, PPP Incumbents Keep Seats

Monetary penalties stop short of the legal threshold that would cost incumbents their seats.

Overview

  • The Seoul Southern District Court convicted Na Kyung-won, Hwang Kyo-ahn and others for obstruction and National Assembly Act violations tied to the 2019 fast-track confrontation.
  • Na was fined 24 million won, Hwang 19 million won and current PPP floor leader Song Eon-seok 11.5 million won, with other sitting PPP lawmakers receiving fines between 5.5 million and 11.5 million won.
  • Judges ruled the actions were not protected by parliamentary immunity or justified resistance and said the conduct damaged public trust in the legislature.
  • Under election law, lawmakers lose seats only with a prison term or a fine of at least 5 million won specifically for violating the Assembly Act, a bar the court’s allocations did not trigger.
  • The court cited the case’s scale—26 defendants, more than 2,000 exhibits, about 50 witnesses and six terabytes of video—for the nearly six-year timeline, and a separate case for Democratic Party figures has a sentencing hearing set for Nov. 28.