People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won carries a South Korean flag at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Sunday, where protesters have been staging a blockade demonstration against the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. [Yonhap]
People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won carries a South Korean flag at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Sunday, where protesters have been staging a blockade demonstration against the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. [Yonhap]

A blockade protest outside a vote-counting center in Jamsil has stretched past 10 days, drawing nearly 30,000 demonstrators over the weekend.

As of 5:30 p.m. Sunday, about 8,000 people had gathered around the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, according to an unofficial police estimate cited by Yonhap News Agency. The previous night, the crowd reached roughly 19,000 as of 10:30 p.m.

Real-time population data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed between 20,000 and 24,000 people inside the park — including visitors and recreational users — with those in their 20s and 30s together accounting for about half the total, at 16.5 percent and 31.1 percent respectively. People Power Party lawmakers Na Kyung-won and Lee Jin-suk visited the protest site, with Na joining participants in drawing a South Korean flag.

While demonstrators last weekend focused their chants on calls for a by-election, this weekend saw louder voices demanding the outright nullification of the vote on grounds of alleged fraud, along with calls for a joint South Korea-US international investigation into the election irregularities.

Around 12:30 p.m., some participants attempted to set up a shrine-like structure and stage a so-called "funeral for democracy" performance, but park authorities refused to allow it and the event did not go ahead.

The protests stem from a ballot shortage that occurred during the June 3 local elections, and political parties are working on measures including investigations into the cause and reforms to election administration. The Democratic Party of Korea recently launched a task force on electoral system reform, and the People Power Party is also reportedly planning its own task force to address gaps in existing election law.

A joint police-prosecution investigation unit was established at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on June 9 and completed a search and seizure of National Election Commission servers on Saturday. The unit is expected to analyze the seized materials next week and summon election commission officials from the districts where the ballot shortage occurred — including Songpa-gu, Seocho-gu, Gangnam-gu, Gwangjin-gu and Dongjak-gu.


park.jiyeong@heraldcorp.com