Prolonged blockade of handball stadium used as vote counting center... Seoul Commissioner: “Illegal protests are a disgrace”

Prolonged blockade of handball stadium used as vote counting center... Seoul Commissioner: “Illegal protests are a disgrace”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Yang Soo-yeon, Yoon Min-hyuk, and Lee Eui-jin = The protest blocking the Jamsil poll counting center, sparked by the shortage of ballot papers for the June 3 local elections, has continued for 11 days.

When the protesters refused to lift the blockade of the Olympic Park handball stadium, which was used as a vote counting center, the Korea Sports Council requested the exercise of public power on the 15th. In addition, Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history lecturer who has been claiming election fraud, reported officials of the National Election Commission.

Sports Chairman Yoo Seung-min said at a press conference this afternoon, “We ask for your support to ensure that the secretariat runs smoothly by deploying public power as soon as possible.”

He warned the protesters, "We make it clear that we will thoroughly check the facts and review all legal measures, including civil and criminal liability."

Protesters have been occupying each entrance to the handball stadium since the 5th, saying they will prevent ballot boxes from being taken out after the votes have been counted, and their slogan is unified as 'Fraudulent re-election, same-day ballot counting.' As of 4 p.m. on this day, police unofficially estimated that about 1,000 people had gathered.

The police believe that it is impossible to disperse the protesters in the short term and are preparing for a long-term war. Regarding the continued damage to sports organizations due to the blockade, the position is that the protesters can be charged with obstruction of business.

At a regular meeting this morning, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief Park Jeong-bo warned of protesters engaging in actions such as searching through the belongings of ordinary citizens without permission, saying, "If you mindlessly go along with illegal activities and are accused of being accomplices, you could end up in disgrace."

Some of the protest participants announced that they would hold a rally near the Blue House in Jongno-gu at 5 p.m. that day.

They agreed that in order to resolve the situation, President Lee Jae-myung should be urged to take practical measures.

Following Jeon Han-gil's complaint, the police took charge of the investigation of Acting National Election Commission Chairman Wi Cheol-hwan and Songpa Election Commission officials.

This afternoon, Mr. Jeon filed a complaint against them at the Songpa Police Station in Seoul, charging them with dereliction of duty and violation of the Public Official Election Act.

Prior to filing a complaint, Mr. Jeon disclosed to reporters election-related items that the National Election Commission claimed had disappeared or been discarded from the 2nd polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, including two ballot storage boxes, marking equipment, and approximately 1,700 voter list comparison slips.

A verification slip is a type of voter identification card that can be exchanged for a ballot paper.

Mr. Jeon argued that the fact that this amount of verification slips remained was itself evidence that the second polling station in Jamsil 7-dong failed to verify voters. Mr. Jeon submitted the items to the police along with a complaint.

Within the police, which is in charge of both responding to and investigating protests sparked by a shortage of ballot papers, the leadership's response to insults aimed at police officers on the scene is on the chopping block.

Representatives of the Seoul Police Works Council held a press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency around 10 a.m. on this day and criticized, “The strict duties and responsibilities of the uniform and the pride of police officers in the field are being destroyed by merciless insults and violence.”

The delegation diagnosed the current situation as a ‘phenomenon of neutralization of public power’ and urged an end to insults aimed at police officers on site. They requested the National Police Agency to prepare specific measures to protect on-site protest response personnel.