Police Warn Protesters Against Illegal Acts Such as Belongings Searches at Vote-Counting Center

Some Radical Protesters Target Handball Players with Conspiracy Theories

The police have issued a warning regarding certain participants in protests over the shortage of ballot papers in the local elections, specifically addressing actions such as obstructing citizens' passage or searching people's belongings without proper authority.

On June 9, the National Police Agency announced that it had deployed additional dialogue police at the protest site in front of the Handball Stadium at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where a "vote-counting center blockade" demonstration was underway. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's leadership was also dispatched to oversee the scene in person.

On the 9th, police officers are changing shifts in front of the entrance to the Handball Stadium at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

The National Police Agency emphasized that the shortage of ballot papers is a grave matter directly linked to the infringement of suffrage, which is at the core of national sovereignty. It also stressed that citizens' freedom of expression must be fully protected and respected as a fundamental right. However, the agency pointed out that there have been cases where some participants have disrupted the passage of law-abiding citizens or conducted searches of others' belongings without legal authority.

The previous day, female youth national handball team players entered the Handball Stadium to retrieve training equipment, but some protesters forcibly inspected their belongings, claiming they needed to ensure that evidence of alleged election fraud was not being smuggled in. In response, Hyun-tae Kim, former commander of the 707th Special Mission Group of the Army Special Warfare Command, and Han-gil Jeon, a YouTuber and former Korean history instructor, asserted during a live broadcast that the team was "disguising their purpose to move ballot boxes."

There were also incidents where a journalist covering the scene was forcibly removed by protesters, and where false information and personal details about police officers deployed for crowd control—such as claims that they were "Chinese police" or "fake police"—were spread, leading to complaints of harm from their families. To prevent the dissemination of personal information, police officers at the scene wore masks, but even this precaution led to further suspicion. The National Police Agency confirmed the identities of the officers accused and officially announced, "They are all Republic of Korea police officers."

The protest site, where demonstrators are demanding a re-election by blocking the vote-counting center, initially saw hardline conservative groups, including some YouTubers, rallying around allegations of election fraud. However, the movement has gradually shifted, with those in their 20s and 30s increasingly focusing on criticizing the National Election Commission's mishandling of the situation and the infringement of suffrage. Ordinary citizens attending without any organizer have voluntarily shared guidelines urging restraint from attacking police officers, while also criticizing vendors selling items such as the American and Israeli flags, leading to confrontations with some older conservative participants.

The National Police Agency stated that while it will respect and protect legitimate expressions of opinion by protesters as a constitutional right, it will take strict action against clearly illegal acts such as assault, defamation, or coercion against citizens, journalists, police, and firefighters. The agency also plans to develop systematic support and response measures at headquarters for officers on the scene who have suffered from excessive dissemination of false information and related harm.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.