▲ Police forcibly disperse protesters blocking the National Assembly's special investigative committee from entering the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on July 2.
Police are conducting nearly 100 investigations related to the blockade of the Jamsil vote counting station, which has continued for 39 days following the ballot paper shortage incident during the June 3 local elections.
Park Jeong-bo, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated during a regular press briefing today (July 13) that a total of 99 cases involving 289 individuals are currently under investigation regarding the protests in front of the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu. As of July 6, the number of cases tallied by the police over the past month was 83, marking an increase of 16 cases in just one week.
Commissioner Park explained that this increase is the result of police officers identifying and submitting user IDs after being insulted by protesters online.
The police are investigating various allegations against the protesters, including "obstruction of business" against the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, "illegal search" of the youth national handball team, "obstruction of justice" involving insulting remarks directed at police officers, and "assault" against journalists.
The Seoul Songpa Police Station, which manages the site, recently referred a large number of participants who obstructed the enforcement of public authority to the prosecution.
A woman in her 40s, identified by the surname Kim, who spat on a police officer after asking for their name on June 23, was the first participant to be indicted on July 7.
Kim was arrested on June 25 on charges including filming police officers on-site while claiming she wanted to "verify if they were Korean police" and hurling insults at the officers' families.
The Seoul Eastern District Court is scheduled to hold the first trial for Kim at 10:00 a.m. on July 21.
In addition to Kim, a man in his 60s who assaulted police while blocking the entry of the National Assembly's "Special Committee on the June 3 Local Election Ballot Paper Shortage" into the counting station on July 2 was also arrested on July 4 and referred to the prosecution on July 8.
Police have also referred two men in their 20s, one man in his 40s, and one woman in her 20s to the prosecution without detention. (Photo: Yonhap News)
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