The demonstration protesting the unprecedented ballot shortage during the June 3 nationwide local elections entered its ninth day, with protesters continuing to blockade the handball arena at the Olympic Park in Jamsil. While about 8,000 people had gathered at the site as late as the previous night, their numbers appeared to have declined somewhat by Saturday morning.
According to reporting compiled by the Seoul Economic Daily, about 700 people had gathered near the handball arena at the Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, as of 9 a.m. Saturday, by unofficial police estimate. According to Seoul's real-time city data, the largest age group among the floating population near the Olympic Park as of 11 a.m. was those aged 60 and older, accounting for 24% of the total.
The previous night, younger people had gathered again, pushing the crowd up to about 8,000 by unofficial police estimate, but participation fell again by Saturday morning. Last weekend, as many as 30,000 people had gathered, but the number of participants dropped sharply this week.
The participation of conservative political groups has been cited as a major factor behind the decline. Last week, ordinary participants gathered regardless of left or right political leanings, in a protest aimed at condemning the National Election Commission's mismanagement of the election. Led mainly by younger people, the protest had a relatively faint political tone—chanting only the slogan "re-election" rather than "rigged election," and allowing only the Korean national flag instead of the American flag, a symbol of far-right rallies—which had helped increase the number of participants.
Citizens made their own picket signs by hand and procured supplies through social networking services (SNS), showing a new form of protest centered on those in their 20s and 30s, breaking away from the ideology- and organization-driven collective-action grammar of the 86 generation. Voices calling for condemning the election commission regardless of progressive or conservative leanings could be heard in various places.
However, with no leadership in place, the number of attendees dwindled as time passed, and the proportion of those aged 60 and older began to increase. As "asphalt conservatives" claiming "election fraud" joined the protest, the political tone also grew stronger. Acts of branding participants who called for a "re-election" slogan as "moles of the University Students' Progressive Alliance (Daejinyeon)" were found in various places. The American flag returned, along with slogans symbolic of groups claiming election fraud, such as "Stop the steal" and "myeolgong" (eradicate communism). Phrases asserting that former President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of martial law was justified were also found in various places.
Some citizens, fatigued by the somewhat aggressive behavior of the protesters, gave up on participating in the rally. Around 10 a.m. on the 9th, when members of the women's youth national handball team requested to move through to retrieve items needed for training, a scuffle briefly broke out between protest participants and police. In particular, when the athletes came out with their items, some participants surrounded them and blocked their way, saying they needed to check whether there were any items related to the election commission. There were even remarks made to the underage female athletes that caused them sexual humiliation, such as "we have to take off your socks too." An incident in which a reporter from a progressive-leaning media outlet was assaulted also occurred.
The slogans currently being shouted by the protesters are centered on "election fraud." Political figures who advocate election-fraud claims, such as Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of Freedom and Innovation, and Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history instructor, have also visited the site to encourage the protesters. Through a YouTube broadcast, Jeon claimed that Oh Sang-taek, the head of Seoul's Songpa Police Station who recently expressed his intention to resign, had stepped down after refusing to disperse the protesters. However, Oh is known to have resigned for health reasons.
