Area by handball gym in Seoul’s Olympic Park turns into base for disorganized election denial movement

Democratic Party lawmakers visiting the protest at the handball stadium at Olympic Park, in Seoul’s Songpa District, had to beat a hasty retreat. After meeting with members of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and sports organizations with offices at the handball stadium, Reps. Cheon Jun-ho, Jeon Yong-gi and Lim O-kyeong approached the blockaded Gate 2-1 that sports organization employees unsuccessfully tried to enter the previous day. But protesters rushed over and soon surrounded the lawmakers. “Where do you think you’re trying to sneak into?” angry protesters shouted. “Commies like you should go back to North Korea.” The blockade of the ballot counting center, which was set off by the unprecedented shortage of ballots at multiple polling stations during Korea’s June 3 local elections, is now in its 13th day. In effect, the protest has escalated into a standoff with no end in sight. Since the protest has no leaders or organizers, there’s nobody with whom to discuss gaining access to the offices. That suggests the standoff will continue, with no sign of an offramp. Organizations affiliated with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee are struggling to help Korean teams prepare to compete in international tournaments. A spokesperson for the Korea Underwater Association said that as of Wednesday, employees were still unable to retrieve materials needed for the CMAS World Championship Finswimming Indoor, a tournament that is being held in Incheon on June 22. The previous day, the Korean national fencing team, which could not collect personal equipment because of the protest, had to borrow equipment from other sources before leaving the country for an Asian competition. “We are also patriots and citizens with the right to vote. We ask that you pay heed to the voices of sports groups fighting for their very survival and permit us to do the bare minimum of administrative work,” said Ryu Seung-min, the president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, during a radio interview on Wednesday. But since nobody is organizing the protests, the police and sports groups are struggling to find meaningful counterparts for the negotiations. The previous day, lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party arranged for sports organization employees to enter the building through talks with some of the protestors. But that initiative was foiled when another protester wearing an American flag like a skirt physically blocked the entrance. “It’s a chaotic situation: there’s no leadership among the protesters, and the positions of the young people, YouTubers