20s and 30s Return to Protest: Second Weekend of 'Ballot Counting Station Blockade'

[Anchor]

The number of people in their 20s and 30s has increased once again at the protest site blocking the ballot counting station at Olympic Park in Seoul, which has entered its second weekend. With a large crowd gathered and even volunteers appearing, the majority of those at the site chanted for "election fraud investigations and a re-election."

Reporter Jo Yoon-ha has the story.

[Reporter]

In front of the ballot counting station at Olympic Park in Seoul, where protests have been ongoing for nine days.

Many citizens have gathered late into the night, waving national flags and continuously chanting slogans.

[Election fraud, re-election! Same-day voting, manual counting!]

The number of protesters was estimated at 20,000 as of 9:00 p.m. yesterday, June 13.

While this is a decrease from the peak of 30,000 last weekend, there has been a noticeable increase in the 20s and 30s demographic, unlike the weekdays when the crowd consisted mostly of the elderly.

In fact, according to real-time urban data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, people in their 30s accounted for approximately one-fourth of the floating population near the counting station, the largest share.

[Lee Si-eun / Gwanak-gu, Seoul: Regardless of left or right, and regardless of who was elected, I felt that this is something we must do to restore the sovereignty of the people...]

[Lee Do-hyeop / Songpa-gu, Seoul: I believe that problems clearly occurred during the voting process, and that the truth must be accurately investigated...]

Most of the protesters chanted for election fraud investigations and a re-election, and some even displayed the U.S. flag, though some expressed disagreement with the political slogans.

[Protest participant: I really don't understand why they have to hold the American flag. To gain more sympathy, I think they should drop the talk of election fraud...]

However, there were no radical actions or physical clashes.

Meanwhile, the police have begun tracking down protesters who illegally searched the belongings of the women's junior national handball team and confined a journalist.

It is reported that while one woman involved in the handball team incident has been identified, no further identities have been confirmed yet.

The joint investigation headquarters of the prosecution and police, which is investigating the shortage of ballots, conducted a search and seizure of the National Election Commission's server for the third consecutive day.

The joint investigation team is expected to focus on analyzing the seized materials first before proceeding with summons for questioning starting this week.

(Video reporting: Kang Si-woo, Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.