Video of Rapper NO:EL Jang Yong-jun at the Time of His Arrest Released in Court: Swearing at and Tussling with the Police

[경향신문]

The rapper Jang Yong-jun (NO:EL), the son of People Power Party lawmaker Jang Je-won, who was arrested for driving without a license and for assaulting a police officer, appears for police questioning at Seocho Police Station in Seocho-gu, Seoul on September 30, 2021. Joint press photographers

A video of NO:EL (22, Jang Yong-jun), the rapper on trial for refusing to take a breathalyzer test and assaulting a police officer, swearing and tussling with police officers at the time of his arrest was disclosed in court.

On January 24, Shin Hyeok-jae, the chief judge of Criminal Court 4 at the Seoul Central District Court, began hearing the case on Jang’s violation of the Road Traffic Act (driving without a license). The prosecutor played a video captured by the police body camera at the time of Jang’s arrest. In the video, Jang said to the officers on site, “I didn’t drive,” and refused to take the breath alcohol test. It also showed him swearing at the police saying, “Get out of the way, you bastard.” Jang also scuffled with the police in front of the car.

Jang was arrested as a criminal caught in the act of the crime, but he resisted by twisting and swaying his body on the road to avoid getting in the police car. The police handcuffed Jang, then grabbed his arms and put him in the car. Once Jang got in the car, he assaulted a police officer. The officer who was struck in the head by Jang let out a scream and said, “He (Jang) hit my head with his head.” All this was caught on camera. Afterwards, when Jang was being transported to the police patrol unit, he asked the police to uncuff him claiming he was in pain. When the police restrained him, he again swore at the officer saying, “F*** you, you son of a *****.” Reportedly, Jang gave a statement to the investigating agency claiming that he hit the officer by mistake while struggling from the pain in his hands due to the handcuffs.

A, the police officer who was hit appeared in court this day as a witness. Jang’s lawyer asked A, “The defendant didn’t bump into you on purpose to hurt you, did he?” A said, “If he bumped into me once, I could think it happened while he was struggling. But he hit me twice in a row and I thought it was intentionally.” As for the reason they handcuffed Jang with his hands behind his back, A said, “He (Jang) was pushing us (police officers) and swearing at us, so we thought there was enough risk of him causing harm, and that’s why we did that.”

When the lawyer asked if it was usual to arrest a person as a criminal caught in the act of the crime for refusing a breathalyzer test, A explained, “When it comes to the breath alcohol test, it is the general principle to test on site. So we don’t request the person (who refuses the test) to voluntarily accompany us (to the police station),” and said, “Usually, they refuse to take the test claiming they didn’t drive, so I believe we arrested most of the people whom I had caught.”

Jang, the son of People Power Party lawmaker Jang Je-won, got into a minor accident with another car while driving a Mercedes-Benz at the St. Mary’s Hospital intersection in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul at around 10:30 p.m. September 18, 2021. He was arrested as a criminal caught in the act of the crime for refusing to take the breathalyzer test and assaulting a police officer.

Jang also stood trial in 2019 for driving under the influence and crashing into a motorcycle in Mapo-gu, Seoul. He was sentenced to a year and six months in prison, with a two-year suspension.