Chaos Erupts Outside Vote Counting Center: Protesters Clash with Police

[Anchor]

Physical clashes broke out at the scene between protesters attempting to block access to the vote counting center and police trying to clear the way. Protesters who pushed and assaulted police officers were arrested on the spot, and shouting and resistance continued throughout the investigation process.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

At 10:00 a.m., a woman stood in front of Gate 2-1 at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium, holding a sign demanding an end to the parliamentary investigation.

She is the woman in her 30s who held onto the door handle for about two hours on June 16, claiming she would block the entry of sports organization officials.

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 committee for the parliamentary investigation would enter through Gate 2-1, leading protesters to block the entrance since the morning.

Conflicts even arose among them over where to stand.

[Hey. Hey. What are you doing?]

Eventually, one person even had to be transported by paramedics after complaining of injuries.

However, at around 12:50 p.m., the special committee members arrived under police escort and headed to Gate 2-2, right next to the original location.

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 the protesters rushed to Gate 2-2 upon hearing that the committee was attempting to enter through a different door, a police riot unit had already formed a human chain to control the area.

[You are ruining the people! Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency!]

The police spent 15 minutes grabbing and moving the protesters in front of Gate 2-2 one by one.

[Don't grab me. Don't do it. Don't do it. (You might get hurt, sir.)]

At around 1:10 p.m., the police lifted the shutters and opened the tightly sealed doors.

It had been 27 days since the vote counting center was first blockaded.

A man in his 60s was arrested on the spot for pushing and assaulting a police officer during the committee's entry, and shouting and resistance continued around the counting center for the 30 minutes that the on-site investigation took place.

Meanwhile, the court dismissed arrest warrants yesterday (July 2) for two men in their 20s who had assaulted police officers at the protest site on June 5.

Reported by Kim Seung-tae and Yang Ji-hoon | Video edited by Jeon Min-gyu
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.