Jamsil vote-count blockade enters third day as young protesters push to keep rally nonpartisan

Ballot shortage at June 3 local elections sparked the standoff; crowd swelled to 30,000 Saturday night before falling to 3,000 by Sunday midday; self-imposed rule bans political slogans beyond call for re-election

Protesters demanding a re-election chant slogans Sunday in front of the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where a blockade of the vote-counting venue triggered by a ballot shortage at the June 3 local elections has continued for a third consecutive day. [Yonhap]

A citizen blockade of a vote-counting venue in Jamsil entered its third day Sunday, sparked by a ballot shortage at the June 3 local elections. Gathering without a formal organizer and led largely by people in their 20s and 30s, demonstrators chanted calls for a re-election while visibly trying to strip the protest of partisan overtones, focusing instead on what they described as the defense of voting rights.

The protest began after ballots ran short at Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong. Since the morning of June 5, when sealed ballot boxes were transferred to the Olympic Park handball arena in Songpa-gu — the nearest counting venue — citizens have maintained a round-the-clock vigil, now in its third day. More than 380 sealed ballot boxes, along with ballot-sorting machines, counters and other National Election Commission equipment, remain inside the arena after demonstrators blocked all eight entrances, preventing their removal to a nearby election commission office.

Crowd size fluctuated sharply overnight. An unofficial police estimate put attendance at roughly 30,000 around 10 p.m. Saturday before it dropped to about 3,000 by noon Sunday. The figures are complicated by a large concert held simultaneously at the nearby Olympic Gymnastics Arena. Seoul Metropolitan Government real-time urban data counted between 12,000 and 14,000 people across the entire park at noon, a figure that blends protesters and concertgoers.

Papers bearing slogans demanding a re-election are posted on a ticket booth in front of the Olympic Park handball arena in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Sunday. [Yonhap]

The defining feature of the scene was a deliberate effort to keep politics out. Participants posted handwritten notices throughout the site reading "No political slogans other than re-election," and refrained from flying flags other than the South Korean national flag or displaying pre-printed banners. Signs reading "Please wave only the Taegukgi" and "Please keep the peace until the end" were also on display. One participant who took the microphone said, "The only phrases we can use are democracy and re-election," while another urged the crowd to "protect the purity of this protest," calling it "a movement to reclaim our right to vote." Some participants drew an explicit line between this gathering and earlier rallies centered on election-fraud conspiracy theories.

The presence of American flags also sparked friction. As word spread of a guideline limiting protest materials to the national flag, a video circulated on social media showing a young participant confronting a vendor selling US flags near Olympic Park station, telling him, "This is not Gwanghwamun." Some participants carrying American flags pushed back, saying the atmosphere had turned strange. The rally, which early on featured remarks from Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty and Innovation Party, and YouTuber Jeon Han-gil, gradually shifted toward a younger crowd. When Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok visited the site in the early hours of Sunday, some participants greeted him with jeers.

The scene remained largely calm. Police deployed roughly 350 officers from six riot-control companies, but no physical clashes occurred. A Songpa Police Station official said there were no plans for a forced dispersal. The possibility of a dispersal in the early hours of Monday or during the morning commute was being discussed, however, prompting participants to prepare for an all-night vigil.

Between 20 and 30 National Election Commission staff members believed to have been stranded inside the arena are thought to have slipped out overnight Saturday. The commission said it could not confirm the information.

psj@heraldcorp.com