![Crowds pack the area outside the Jamsil vote-counting center on Friday evening as the blockade protest, triggered by a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections, surges again ahead of the weekend. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/14/rcv.YNA.20260612.PYH2026061221810000401_P1.jpg)
The blockade protest outside the Jamsil vote-counting center, which had tapered off during the workweek, swelled again over the weekend and shows signs of becoming a prolonged standoff. Younger demonstrators in their 20s and 30s — many insisting the dispute is not a matter of left-right ideology — rejoined the crowd, pushing numbers back into the tens of thousands and deepening police uncertainty over how to respond.
As of 10 a.m. Sunday, roughly 600 people remained gathered around the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul — the site of the counting center — according to an unofficial police estimate cited by Yonhap News Agency.
At its peak Saturday at 10:30 p.m., the crowd reached approximately 19,000. A recurring pattern has emerged: numbers thin out in the early morning hours, then surge sharply in the afternoon and evening.
While last weekend's chants coalesced around calls for a "re-election," this weekend saw a wider range of slogans — "fraudulent election, hold a new vote" and "same-day ballots, hand-counted" among them. The national anthem could be heard intermittently throughout the crowd.
The number of protesters camping overnight in tents and mosquito nets near the venue gates has grown, and flyers bearing the South Korean flag have been plastered across park facilities, including automated parking kiosks.
Calls for a "joint South Korea-US international investigation" into the incident were also visible among the demonstrators.
Because the protest has no formal organizer, police say they have limited legal grounds to take active measures against it.
Unlike the two-night, three-day blockade at the Jamsil 7-dong Precinct 2 polling station, Olympic Park sits away from residential areas, meaning noise-related complaints have been relatively few. The fact that vote-counting has already concluded also makes it difficult for police to justify restricting the protest on grounds of protecting election operations.
With the protest entering its tenth day, police have concluded that a quick dispersal is not feasible and are preparing for an extended standoff.
"We believe the situation will only be resolved once protesters' demands are addressed to some degree — whether through an election nullification lawsuit, a parliamentary investigation, or a joint prosecution-police probe," a police official told Yonhap.
Police say they will guarantee the right to peaceful protest while responding firmly to any individual unlawful acts.
Sports organizations have reported real operational disruptions from the blockade of the handball arena, and some observers say that issue could become a turning point. The organizations plan to hold a news conference Monday to demand access to the venue and are expected to attempt re-entry alongside police.
Police are also investigating the searching of bags belonging to youth national handball team athletes and an assault on a television journalist at the scene.
A court order to preserve ballots and ballot boxes inside the counting center — though rejected twice already — could also shift conditions on the ground if granted.
Experts said the protest is likely to sustain momentum for now, compounded by controversy over the National Election Commission's administrative failures.
"The protest site has taken on a symbolic significance tied to the ballot shortage," said Jeon Sang-jin, a sociology professor at Sogang University. "With the election commission's poor administration coming increasingly to light, this is unlikely to wrap up quickly."
Professor Jeon also noted the coexistence within the protest of hard-line conservatives and younger, center-right demonstrators in their 20s and 30s. "How the relationship between the far-right fringe and the broader right-leaning majority is defined will be a key variable in how this protest unfolds," he said.
paq@heraldcorp.com
