▲ The woman who blocked entry to the vote counting station at Olympic Park
As protests over the blockade of a vote counting station, which began following a ballot paper shortage during the June 3 local elections, continue around the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium, police have identified the woman who single-handedly blocked sports organization staff from entering their offices inside the venue.
The Seoul Songpa Police Station announced today (June 24) that it has summoned a woman in her 30s who occupied the entrance to the Jamsil vote counting station at the Handball Gymnasium on the 16th while draped in a U.S. flag.
At the time, after protesters and People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk reached an agreement to allow sports organization staff to enter the venue, the woman held onto the gymnasium doors and resisted for approximately two hours as they attempted to enter.
Although party leader Jang and Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Lee Kee-heung attempted to persuade her, she refused to step aside, insisting that preservation procedures for the ballots and ballot boxes inside the counting station must be carried out first. Ultimately, the entry attempt was thwarted.
In hardline conservative online communities, there has been a movement to praise the woman for single-handedly blocking the entrance, referring to her as "Oldarc," a portmanteau of "Olympic Park" and "Joan of Arc."
The police are identifying others who obstructed the sports organization staff from entering their offices based on video evidence, and are proceeding with investigations by applying charges of obstruction of business to those involved.
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