▲ Police remove a paper sign reading "manual vote counting on election day" at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where protests and blockades of the Jamsil vote-counting station—triggered by the ballot paper shortage during the June 3 local elections—have continued, on the 8th.
Sports organizations, with the cooperation of the police, have entered the Handball Gymnasium at Olympic Park in Seoul.
This comes 95 days after protests began blocking the vote-counting station, triggered by the ballot paper shortage during the June 3 local elections.
At around 9:20 a.m. today (the 8th), officials from nine member sports organizations under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee entered the gymnasium and dispersed to their respective offices.
While sports organization employees gathered work computers and various documents, dozens of protesters rushed in to protest but were blocked by police riot squads.
However, no major physical clashes have been reported.
Police stated that before the employees entered the vote-counting station, officials from the special counsel team led by Lee Tae-han for the National Election Commission and the National Election Commission first entered to take safety measures regarding the ballot papers.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee stated that with access to their offices inside the stadium restricted for over three months, serious disruptions to their work have occurred, making entry inevitable, especially with the upcoming Summer Asian Games preparations ahead.
They had previously conveyed their stance to the political circles multiple times about the necessity of entering the vote-counting station, but after failing to make progress, they reportedly decided to enter following recent consultations with the police.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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