A protest over voting disruptions caused by a ballot paper shortage during the June 3 local elections continued into Saturday.
Protesters remained gathered outside the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, eastern Seoul, on Saturday afternoon. The venue was being used as a vote-counting center. Protesters blocked entrances, trapping an estimated 20-30 officials inside.
Roughly 3,000 demonstrators were present as of 1:30 p.m., according to an unofficial police estimate.
The protest initially took place at a polling station in Songpa-gu. It, however, shifted to the current location after police dispersed the demonstrators to secure the transfer of ballot boxes for the Seoul mayoral election on Friday.
Nearly 7,000 people gathered at the site around midnight on the day. Although the crowd thinned somewhat during the early morning hours, it grew again after daybreak, according to reports.
Police deployed about 400 officers to the area, including dozens stationed at the venue’s main entrance, and remained in a standoff with protesters. No major physical clashes had been reported.
The unrest was sparked by ballot paper shortages at more than a dozen polling stations in Seoul on Wednesday, forcing voting to be temporarily halted.
