Film industry workers have made a petition on Wednesday urging the acquittal of a documentary filmmaker who was indicted after the Jan. 19 riot at the Seoul Western District Court.

Jung Yoon-suk has been charged with “special intrusion,” meaning unlawful entry, after a mob, presumed to be made up of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s supporters, stormed the court in Mapo District, western Seoul.


The 43-year-old director is known for producing documentaries that dealt with incidents such as the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014 and the Itaewon crowd crush in 2022.

“Director Jung was working on a documentary about the illegal attempt at martial law and the subsequent social breakdown,” the petition reads. “He was cooperating with officials from the National Assembly and journalists to capture footage of the riot. Such intentions were made clear during the investigation as well.”

A total of 2,781 film industry workers and citizens, including directors such as Park Chan-wook, Kim Sung-su, Byun Young-joo, Jang Hang-jun, Lee Myung-se, Shin Yeon-sik and Jo Hyeon-cheol, have signed the petition, which was submitted to the Seoul Western District Court the same day, according to the Association of Korean Independent Film and Video.

A total of 51 film-related associations have also participated.

“Jung was driven by an ethical will to document the crisis moment of a democracy and his sense of responsibility as an artist, which led him to head to the courthouse with a camera,” the petition continued. “Director Jung only filmed the rioters; he is not a rioter himself.

“We sincerely request that Jung is found innocent so that an artist’s act of leaving the truth is not treated as a crime.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]