Court says rallies near embassies fair

A court has ruled that a controversial regulation which bars rallies and protests within 100 meters of foreign embassies is fair. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the National Alliance for Democracy and Reunification (NADR), which had filed a suit against the chief of Chongno Police Station saying it was unfair for him to ban rallies on the grounds that they would take place near foreign missions.

The court also dismissed a request by the NADR to refer the question of the constitutionality of an assembly law that bans demonstrations within 100 meters of foreign embassies to the Constitutional Court for judgment.

In passing out the ruling, the court said by establishing the 100 meter limitation, the law had appropriately satisfied both the need to protect foreign missions and citizens` basic rights, despite the NADR`s claim that it is unfair to uniformly ban rallies regardless of their purpose or the methods in which they are staged.