Tag: taeguki

For anyone that was wondering, it is illegal to burn a South Korean flag and can get you sentenced up to 5 years in jail:

Prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted a South Korean man on charges of burning the national flag during a rally commemorating the first anniversary of the deadly ferry disaster.

The 23-year-old, only identified by his surname Kim, is accused of burning the flag during the April 18 rally in downtown Seoul and damaging a police vehicle, the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office said.

“I was in a rage after witnessing the government authorities illegally taking the bereaved families to police stations instead of focusing on the investigation into the cause of the accident,” he told the prosecutors.

In South Korea, flag burning is an offense that is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 7 million won (US$6,100).

Kim is also accused of causing 6.9 million won (US$6,000) in damage to a police vehicle along with other protesters and obstructing traffic in central Seoul.

Thousands of demonstrators staged rallies at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall in April and May to mark the anniversary of the sinking of the Sewol ferry that claimed 304 lives.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

A group of Army soldiers attends a ceremony in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, on Aug. 4, 2015, to have a patch of the Korean national flag, or Taegeukgi, attached to their uniforms. The Defense Ministry has instructed the Army to attach the flag to the uniforms of all military soldiers starting this month as part of efforts to raise their patriotism and mark the 70th anniversary on Aug. 15 of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s colonization. (Yonhap)

For those that did not know desecrating the Korean flag can lead to criminal charges:

Seoul Metropolitan Police filed on May 31 for an arrest warrant against a 24-year old Korean man, identified only by his surname Kim, for flag desecration.  According to the Hankyoreh,  Kim “burned a piece of paper showing an image of the South Korean flag while facing off with police who had erected a vehicle barricade at a memorial demonstration for the first anniversary of the Sewol ferry sinking.”  [Marmot’s Hole]

You can read a lot more about the criminal charges at the link, but ultimately the Seoul District Court decided to reject the arrest warrant for the protester because the man was emotionally not himself at the time. It is still interesting though that the Korean authorities do have the option to pursue such charges and this may be why I have never seen any Koreans before burning the Taeguki.