Sunday's mob attack on Seoul court exposes policing dilemma in Korea

Police are seen in another standoff with President Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
Police are seen in another standoff with President Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

Sunday’s predawn protest by supporters of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol erupted into mob violence after a court issued the formal warrant to detain the president while he is under criminal investigation on charges of leading an insurrection and committing abuse of power. At around 3 a.m., approximately 1,300 supporters of the impeached president stormed the courthouse, hurling bricks and smashing glass and office equipment with sticks, metal pipes and furniture.

Despite the presence of around 900 police officers guarding the court, the officers, equipped only with fabric caps, gloves and plastic shields, were unable to contain the mob or prevent their illegal entry into the court building. Facing a violent mob wielding weapons, a lack of protective gear left police vulnerable for over 30 minutes. In response, police mobilized 1,400 riot control officers outfitted with full protective suits and helmets to regain control.

Videos of bleeding officers being carried from the scene quickly spread.

By the end of the weekend, a total of 51 officers had been injured, seven seriously, overwhelmed by the violence that began Saturday afternoon. One officer on the front line was reported in Korean-language daily Chosun Ilbo as having written on an online forum for registered current police officers, "If we had been equipped with batons or capsaicin spray, the rioters would not have been able to storm the court so easily."

The incident marks the first violent breach of a courthouse since the 1989 storming of a Gwangju district court by Chosun University students protesting the death of a student, a stark reminder of the country’s tumultuous modern political history. The event also has fueled concerns about the ability of police to protect critical public institutions and public safety, particularly when tensions escalate.

With legal proceedings underway to remove Yoon from office and criminally prosecute him for alleged crimes related to his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, critics question whether the police ― struggling to defend even themselves ― are prepared to protect the nation’s democratic institutions. At the same time, the incident highlights a dilemma of Korea's police: how to balance the need to enforce the law while remaining sensitive to criticism about the excessive use of force. Here's why.

Political hot potato

The excessive use of police force has been a sensitive topic throughout South Korean history.

Recent incidents indicate that trauma from police brutality remains in society here. In 2015, 68-year-old farmer and activist Baek Nam-ki was fatally injured by police using water cannons to crack down on a protest calling on then-President Park Geun-hye to fulfill her pledge to raise rice prices. His death triggered widespread criticism of the riot police's suppression of a peaceful assembly.

Sunday's riot highlighted the tension between underpolicing and overpolicing, as officers reportedly were not wearing helmets or riot gear out of concern that doing so could make them accountable for intimidating what were presumed to be peaceful protesters. Struggling to balance the protection of citizens' freedom of assembly with the need to ensure public safety, police have become more vulnerable to political interference.

The police force finds itself caught in the political crossfire: Left-leaning demonstrations are often criticized by liberal parties when handled by riot police, while right-wing rallies, such as Sunday’s protest, instead receive backing from conservative factions.

Police block the entrance of the Seoul Western District Court from pro-Yoon Suk Yeol protesters Saturday night. The police officers, who did not have sufficient protective gear, were violently attacked by the mob, which broke into the building and vandalized it before dawn Sunday. (Pool photo by Yonhap)
Police block the entrance of the Seoul Western District Court from pro-Yoon Suk Yeol protesters Saturday night. The police officers, who did not have sufficient protective gear, were violently attacked by the mob, which broke into the building and vandalized it before dawn Sunday. (Pool photo by Yonhap)

Following Sunday's mob violence, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, said he could not understand why protesters "were body-slammed by police, had their camera tripods kicked and were hit by police shields" a claim for which he provided no evidence and which police denied.

A similar allegation was made by main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung, who defended protesters at a rally against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration in November. Lee laid blame on police for physical scuffles at the scene then, saying, "We will soon see people on the street beaten by police and bleeding," because he saw police "heavily armored" at the scene of the protest.

Acting Commissioner General Lee, who attended the parliamentary hearing on Monday, acknowledged that police officers at Sunday’s riot were not equipped with antiriot gear despite recognizing that the protesters where wielding weapons such as bricks, pipes and sticks.

Leadership void

The South Korean police currently has a leadership void, as its commissioner general, Cho Ji-ho, was impeached for his alleged involvement in Yoon's imposition of martial law by scheming to arrest a list of prominent politicians and outspoken opponents of the president, as well as for attempting to block lawmakers from taking part in the parliamentary vote to nullify Yoon's martial law decree.

Cho's impeachment means the nation's top police official ― a vice-ministerial position in South Korea ― will not be named until the Constitutional Court hands down its final verdict. The acting commissioner general of South Korea's police agency is currently Lee Ho-young.

According to the Chosun Ilbo report, a police officer dispatched to Sunday's riot scene at the court building anonymously criticized their on-site commanders for "regarding police at the scene as those meant to be beaten" on the aforementioned online forum exclusively for police officers.

A police officer is seen on duty in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)
A police officer is seen on duty in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)

The leadership vacuum will continue to leave officers questioning themselves as to whether they are on the right side in the moment they are on duty, one expert said.

"That's potentially devastating for officer morale," Seth Stoughton, a former police officer in the US and professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, told The Korea Herald, referring to the absence of the police commissioner general due to his impeachment. "I’d be very surprised if they didn’t feel the weight of losing public trust and support."

"Leadership is incredibly important in policing because ultimately it is the leader who is responsible for the agency’s official actions, without someone to make the difficult calls or to take responsibility in a fraught time laden with political tension," Stoughton said.

Possible fatigue

Riot police have been deployed to mass rallies that have become more frequent since Korea's martial law crisis in December, raising the possibility of fatigue.

This comes as the Korean National Police Agency at the same time is scaling back forces available to be dispatched to handle public safety for protests, in part due to Seoul's earlier decision to phase out the police conscript system ― an alternative to the mandatory military service ― and offset it by hiring a lesser number of officers, in 2017 by Yoon's predecessor, former President Moon Jae-in. The total number of officers available for deployment nationwide to protest scenes has shrunk by more than half from 30,519 as of 2017.

The Yoon administration unveiled plans to revive the police conscript system in August by adding up to 8,000 conscripts in nine months, but it withdrew the plans the following day amid public backlash, saying it was just one of the options under consideration.

"Police officers tasked with public safety on the streets (in Seoul) number about 5,000, and their fatigue level reached an extreme because they had to continue working overnight," acting Commissioner General Lee said at Monday's parliamentary hearing.

"This was the first time the court building was attacked in this kind of situation. ... I've never expected mob violence to happen. I regret that some of our police officers got injured, but I have to tell you that police did their best."