[Anchor]
Physical clashes broke out today (July 2) between protesters attempting to block lawmakers from entering the vote counting center and police trying to clear the way. A man in his 60s was arrested in the act for pushing and assaulting a police officer. Shouting and resistance continued throughout the duration of the National Assembly's on-site inspection.
Reporter Im Jihyeon has the story.
[Reporter]
At 10:00 a.m., a woman stood in front of Gate 2-1 at the Olympic Handball Gymnasium, holding a sign demanding an end to the parliamentary investigation.
She is the same woman in her 30s who held onto the door handle for about two hours on June 16, claiming she was preventing sports organization officials from entering.
Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Freedom and Innovation Party, was also spotted among the protesters surrounding the woman.
Rumors spread that members of the special parliamentary investigation committee would enter through Gate 2-1, leading protesters to block the entrance from the morning.
Conflicts even arose among the protesters themselves over where to stand.
[Hey. Hey. What are you doing?]
Eventually, one person had to be transported by paramedics after complaining of injuries.
However, at approximately 12:50 p.m., the special committee members arrived under police escort and headed toward the adjacent Gate 2-2.
They chose Gate 2-2, where there were usually few protesters, rather than Gate 2-1, where lawmakers had attempted to enter last month.
When news reached the protesters that the committee was attempting to enter through a different door, they rushed to Gate 2-2, only to find that police riot squads had already formed a human chain to control the scene.
[You are ruining the people! Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency!]
Over the course of 15 minutes, police moved the protesters who were in front of Gate 2-2 by removing them one by one.
[Don't grab me. Don't do it. Don't do it. (You will get hurt, sir.)]
At around 1:10 p.m., the shutters were raised, and the tightly closed doors were opened.
It had been 27 days since the blockade of the vote counting center began.
During the entry of the special committee, a man in his 60s was arrested in the act for pushing and assaulting a police officer, and shouting and resistance continued around the counting center for the 30 minutes that the on-site inspection took place.
Meanwhile, the court held pre-arrest interrogation hearings today for two men in their 20s who allegedly assaulted police officers at the protest site of the counting center on June 5.
(Video coverage: Kim Seung-tae, Yang Ji-hoon | Video editing: Jeon Min-gyu)
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