Citizens hold signs calling for a re-election at Olympic Park across from Suwon City Hall in Gwonseon-gu, Suwon, on Saturday morning. [Yonhap]
Citizens hold signs calling for a re-election at Olympic Park across from Suwon City Hall in Gwonseon-gu, Suwon, on Saturday morning. [Yonhap]

Rallies demanding a re-election, sparked by a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections, spread to Suwon in Gyeonggi Province on Saturday.

Around 40 Suwon residents gathered Saturday morning at Olympic Park in Gwonseon-gu, across from Suwon City Hall. Waving South Korean flags or holding hand-drawn versions of the national flag on poster board, they chanted slogans including "Fraudulent election — hold a re-election" and "Hand-count the ballots."

Participants said they had learned about the rally through online posts and attended on their own initiative.

A 28-year-old university student from Suwon, identified only by a surname, said a ballot shortage was "simply unacceptable." "I came out to do what I can as a citizen, because I am heartbroken that voting rights were not guaranteed," the student said.

One family brought three generations — a grandmother in her 70s, her son in his 50s and a teenage grandchild. The son, holding a hand-drawn flag against his chest alongside his child, said he came to show his family firsthand that wrongs must be called out. "I wanted them to witness a piece of history themselves," he said.

A couple in their 30s who brought their seven-month-old baby said they could not make it to Jamsil but came after seeing news of the Suwon gathering. "We saw there was a meeting here in Suwon on Saturday, so we came," they said.

Attendees ranged in age from teenagers to people in their 70s, though older participants made up a relatively large share of the crowd.

Professor Lee Su-jung, the People Power Party's district committee chair for Suwon-jeong, also attended the rally and joined the crowd in chanting slogans, adding her voice to calls for a re-election.

Investigative authorities have launched a forced investigation into the National Election Commission over the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. In Gyeonggi Province, it has also come to light that an official incorrectly entered vote-count results in the superintendent of education race.


klee@heraldcorp.com