Olympic Park Ballots Removed... Jang Donghyuk After Overnight Sit-In: "Now We Start Again"

The People Power Party on the 29th again raised objections to the verification process for ballot boxes in the “ballot shortage incident” during the 9th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections. The ballot boxes in question had been stored for about 140 days before being recounted in the presence of both ruling and opposition party representatives and then removed from the site. Party leader Jang Donghyuk said, “The evidence has disappeared,” adding, “Now we’re starting again.”

Speaking at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul, that day, Jang said, “Numerous irregularities and evidence of election fraud poured out during the verification process, and evidence of further election fraud remains in the ballot boxes taken by the National Election Commission and the special prosecutor’s team. The evidence that could vindicate every citizen’s vote has disappeared.”

Yonhap News Agency

Earlier, the special prosecutor’s team led by Lee Tae-han conducted a public verification process starting the previous day that lasted about 12 hours and covered approximately 2.47 million ballots from Songpa-gu, as well as closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. More than 400 boxes containing ballots with no irregularities were taken by the National Election Commission, while the special prosecutor’s team took away 13 boxes containing ballots that had been challenged.

Before the boxes were removed, some People Power Party representatives, including Jang and Supreme Council member Kim Minsu, held an overnight sit-in to block their transfer. Jang, who took part in the overnight sit-in, canceled all of his major scheduled events that morning. The reason was that the National Election Commission, as a party to the controversy, could not be entrusted with ballots showing no irregularities.

In a social media post, Jang said that investigators had found issues including ▲ damaged security seals ▲ ballots with different colors or left and right margins ▲ ballots with missing stamps or stamps in different colors ▲ cases in which the number of physical ballots was lower than the tally results. He added, “There is no investigation that leaves evidence in the hands of the suspect (the National Election Commission).”

Some lawmakers who observed the recount also joined in. Referring to the security seals, lawmaker Kim Minjeon said, “If ballot boxes have been kept in this condition, what can we say has been protected all this time?” Lawmaker Kim Taegyu questioned the results, saying, “At the table I inspected, the Democratic Party of Korea had +100 votes and the People Power Party had +1 vote?”

The People Power Party protested after the ballots were removed. Lawmaker Lee Jinsuk said the special prosecutor’s team had broken its promise to allow representatives of the People Power Party and the public to accompany the transfer of the ballot boxes, on the grounds that it had not guaranteed a “safe removal.” She asked, “Thousands of citizens had gathered. Could anyone have guaranteed it would be 100% safe?”

Although the recount was completed after about 140 days, the “Olympic Park incident” is not expected to be resolved easily. Jang is reportedly suspending all of his scheduled activities and considering measures related to the matter. “Jang is currently at an undisclosed location discussing various options,” said Park Sunghoon, the party’s senior spokesperson.

The ruling camp has criticized Jang, saying he is focused on maintaining political momentum rather than resolving the matter. Park Sungmin, a former Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, appeared on “CBS Park Seongtae’s News Show” that day and said, “The Olympic Park incident is Jang’s lifeline, and as it is about to snap, he is weaving it again.” She added, “He has no intention of bringing it to a close, regardless of the outcome.”

National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee Chair Kim Youngjin of the Democratic Party of Korea appeared on SBS’s “Kim Taehyun’s Political Show” that day and said, “A hand count of all approximately 2.47 million ballots found nothing decisive. The special prosecutor’s team will use forensic investigation to verify the issues raised. Jang should bring this to a close now.”

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