Olympic Park Still Occupied Without Ballot Boxes... "We'll Keep Going for Another 10 Years"

[Anchor]

Protests are still ongoing at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium following the June 3 local elections. Although the ballot boxes were removed last week, the park management requested voluntary dismantling and withdrawal, but some protesters refuse to leave, keeping tensions high.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

At the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium, where all ballot boxes from the June 3 local elections were completely removed on October 29.

The entrance to the gymnasium is blocked by tents and canopy structures.

Torn and abandoned tents are scattered everywhere, and near the plastic chairs filling the parking lot, protesters are shouting slogans alleging electoral fraud.

[Fraudulent election! Rerun the election!]

After the special counsel for the election commission collected all the ballots inside the gymnasium, the park management asked the protesters to voluntarily withdraw by yesterday (November 5), but they still refuse to leave.

This is the gate where protesters used to stay, but now only garbage remains, including discarded shoes and Taegeuki (South Korean flags).

[Park Management Official: Haven't all the ballot boxes been moved out now?]

[Protest Participant: We are fighting desperately right now. I want to call this place a sacred ground.]

[Protest Participant: The struggle will probably go on for about 10 years.]

The estimated damage from the protests that have gone on for five months is at least about 2.6 billion won, which the corporation is left to shoulder entirely. With no clear organizer for the protests, there is no appropriate party to hold accountable.

Inconvenience for citizens continues.

[Park Young-shin / Songpa-gu, Seoul: I called my child, but it was so loud that the child couldn't even hear my voice... Although the site has been partially cleaned up, I'm somewhat worried that it might become like that again.]

The park management warned the protesters, who are stubbornly holding their ground, that if they do not voluntarily dismantle by November 12, they will take legal action and even seek compensation for costs.

However, amid concerns over physical clashes, they have yet to even finish legal reviews on whether forced removal is feasible, failing to find a clear solution.

(Video by Cho Chang-hyun | Video Editing by Choi Hye-ran | Design by Choi Jin-hoe)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.