Police Identify 3 Suspects in Jamsil Handball Gym Trespassing... Expanding Protest Investigation

Assault Suspects Who Attacked Reporter Identified and Summoned for Questioning

As protests to block the removal of ballot boxes at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park—used as the vote counting center for the Jamsil area during the June 3 local elections—continued for the fifteenth consecutive day, police are accelerating their investigation into criminal acts committed during the demonstrations.

On the 18th, participants are chanting slogans in front of the entrance to the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul, where the 'vote counting site blockade protest' is ongoing due to the shortage of ballots in the June 3 local elections. Photo by Yonhap News.

On June 19, the Songpa Police Station in Seoul announced that they had identified three suspects involved in the unauthorized entry incident at the underground area of the Handball Gymnasium, which occurred on June 7. The police plan to summon these individuals for questioning to determine the exact circumstances of the crime and to decide whether to pursue charges such as property damage and trespassing. The suspects are accused of damaging the lock on the door to the mechanical room, located in the basement corridor next to Gates 1–3, between 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on June 7, and recording the interior with a mobile phone.

According to Korea Sports Industry Development, which manages the facility, a maintenance staff member who was on duty at the time spotted the intruders through closed-circuit (CC)TV footage and chased them out. The company reported the suspects and had the door welded shut entirely on June 11.

An investigation is also underway into allegations of obstruction of work by those who blocked access to the offices of organizations affiliated with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee located inside the gymnasium, with a total of nine people under investigation. The police have identified two of these individuals and requested their attendance for questioning. Notably, it has been reported that among those summoned is a female protester known as Ms. A, who was idolized on a hardline conservative online community under the nickname "Oldark."

Legal proceedings are also underway for unlawful acts targeting journalists on site and sports officials. Regarding the incident on June 5, when a JTBC reporter was assaulted by protesters claiming election fraud, the police have already identified all three suspects and notified them to appear for questioning. The JTBC branch of the Journalists Association of Korea had previously announced its intention to take legal action after one of its reporters was assaulted while covering the vote-counting process at the Handball Gymnasium on June 5 by individuals alleging election fraud.

The police stated, "In addition, we are investigating nine cases of illegal acts against police officers and eighteen cases of violent acts between citizens," emphasizing, "We will thoroughly track down and respond strictly to all illegal acts in accordance with the law and principles."

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