Rally at Olympic Park enters fifth day; crowds thin in mornings but swell to nearly 3,000 by evening
A protest that erupted over a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections has entered its fifth consecutive day at Olympic Park. Around 9 a.m. on a weekday, roughly 100 demonstrators remained on site — a visibly smaller crowd. But given how quickly numbers surged from the afternoon onward on Monday, attendance could swell again by evening. On Monday night, office workers still in their work clothes joined the crowd, pushing attendance to nearly 3,000.
By around 9 a.m. Tuesday, the crowd in front of the handball stadium at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, had thinned noticeably — about 120 people, a number small enough to count by hand. They chanted slogans including "fraudulent election, hold a re-election" and "hand-count early voting ballots."
Apparently aware of the diminished turnout, protesters spread out into a wide formation, waving Taegukgi flags and chanting slogans. Beside them, some who had stayed through the night slept on mats laid out on the ground.
Some attendees stopped by briefly before heading to work. Park, a 37-year-old who said he had taken time off over the weekend and on Monday to stay at the site before returning to his job, said those around him applauded when he stood up to leave for work. "There's a restroom here but nowhere to wash up, so I haven't been able to — my hair is getting greasy," he added.
Some students also dropped in before class. Kim Seong-yun, 26, a graduate student, said he had to leave soon for a seminar. "I'm trying to stay as long as I can," he said.
High school students who cannot yet vote also showed up to make their voices heard. Kim, 18, a second-year student at nearby Dongbuk High School, came with a friend. "We've been here since 5 a.m.," he said. "Our parents think we left early to study." School starts at 8 a.m., he explained, and he has hagwon in the evening, leaving the early morning as his only window to participate.
"In social studies class, we learned that suffrage is fundamental — so it made me angry to see even the basics not being upheld," Kim said. He added with a laugh that he had replaced breakfast with three fish-cake skewers handed out from a truck at the site.
A housewife who came specifically to fill the gap during the quieter morning hours was also among the crowd. Choi, a woman in her 50s who traveled from Cheonan, said it was up to people like her to hold the line while workers were at their offices and students were in school. "That's why I'm making a point of being here in the morning — to keep the space filled, even a little," she said.
Attendance is likely to climb again in the afternoon. On Monday, roughly 150 people were at the site in the morning, but the crowd grew to nearly 3,000 by evening.
Around 6 p.m. Monday, approximately 2,700 people — an unofficial police estimate — had gathered at the protest site, and numbers kept climbing. After the evening commute, office workers in suits and work clothes streamed in from Olympic Park station.
Lee, 36, stood awkwardly among the crowd, not joining in the chants. "This is the first protest I've ever been to in my life," he said. "I came so I wouldn't be ashamed in front of my daughter. I skipped dinner and came straight here after work from Ilsan."
Office workers were not the only ones arriving after daytime commitments. Park, 24, a third-year student at Yonsei University, said he attended classes during the day and came in the evening. "I thought a large turnout was necessary for our voices to be heard," he said.
Park said that while some dissenting opinions had appeared on the university's online community boards, most people around him shared a strong sense that citizens' basic rights had not been protected.
Ahn, 30, another office worker, said he had been checking news from the protest throughout the day. "I was worried the momentum would fizzle out, so I came straight after work," he said. "As long as the rally continues, I plan to come every evening."
The protest over the ballot shortage has now stretched into its fifth day with no resolution in sight. Inside the stadium, some 380 ballot boxes and ballots from Songpa-gu — counting already completed — remain in place. Election commission staff have all withdrawn from the site.
Police have deployed riot units to prepare for any unexpected incidents. "We are maintaining around 350 riot officers to keep order at the scene," a police official said.
20ki@heraldcorp.com
