Chang Dong-hyeok, leader of the People Power Party (PPP), visited the "ballot-counting station blockade protest" outside the handball stadium at Olympic Park on the 17th, chanting slogans of "fraudulent election, re-election."
Chang, a sitting National Assembly member, skipped the Constitution Day commemoration ceremony, saying his absence was "an expression of protest against the collapse of the constitutional order." He joined the re-election protest alongside fellow party members Park Jun-tae, Joo Jin-woo and Park Dae-chul, as well as Supreme Council members Kim Min-soo and Cho Kwang-han. Assembly member Ahn Cheol-soo also drew attention by attending the ballot-counting station blockade protest for the first time that day separately.
Addressing the participants at the rally, Chang said, "I am sorry that the National Election Commission has failed to present any solution," and urged, "Today, please chant not 'Chang Dong-hyeok' but 'fraudulent election, re-election' and 'count same-day votes.'" The rally participants chanted "Chang Dong-hyeok." Chang also held an event in which he personally wrote placards in calligraphy and handed them out to citizens.
In a Pen&Mike YouTube interview conducted at the rally site, Chang said regarding the timing of a recount, "I think it would not be too late to conduct a recount after the special counsel begins its activities and determines that sufficient evidence investigation has been completed and that a recount can proceed." He added, "The ballot boxes are already contaminated. A recount should take place only after a convincing verification confirms they have not been contaminated." He said, "Rather than rushing a recount, what comes first now is an opposition-led people's special counsel to clearly uncover this issue."
On why he did not attend the Constitution Day ceremony despite being an Assembly member, Chang said, "In the year since the Lee Jae-myung government took office, virtually all it has done is destroy the constitution." He said, "As an expression of protest, I did not attend the Constitution Day ceremony and instead came to see the citizens at Olympic Park who have come out to the square to restore the right to political participation and the constitutional order." Citing the ruling party's unilateral parliamentary organization and its push to abolish supplementary investigation authority, he stressed, "With what face could we hold a Constitution Day ceremony before those who created the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and established democracy?"
Responding to criticism within the party that his outdoor activities have gone too far, Chang stressed, "Before asking me why I have been going to Olympic Park for more than 40 days, one should look back at what institutional politics has done." He said, "Regarding the National Election Commission issue, we have failed to achieve a proper parliamentary investigation, a special counsel or reform of the commission."
Above all, Chang argued that his outdoor activities also help expand support among moderates. "Moving together in the direction where many people are raising their voices is expanding the moderate base," he said, adding, "I think standing with these angry citizens who have come out to Olympic Park is expanding the moderate base."
The evening before, Chang also visited the Olympic Park protest site, waving the national flag while holding a placard that read, "Fun playing golf? Proud of desertion? Let's each take a hit and go to impeachment." This was read as targeting President Lee Jae-myung's so-called "golf allegations" and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back's "desertion allegations."
Earlier, on the 7th, he had come out holding a placard that read, "Jae-myung, fight me, not high school students," and on the 11th, one that read, "Jae-myung, you saw it? You heard it? Then you should accept the people's special counsel."
