"Calls for Nullifying Local Election and Holding a Re-election" Protests Spread Across Downtown Seoul... 20,000 Gather at Olympic Park [Roundup 2]

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[Financial News] Rallies and protests calling for a re-election over the shortage of ballots during the June 3 local elections were held in several parts of downtown Seoul.
The National Movement Headquarters for Rebuilding the Republic of Korea, led by Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church, held the June 6 Gwanghwamun National Rally near Exit 6 of Gwanghwamun Station in Seoul at around 11 a.m. on the 6th.
Participants occupied part of Sejong-daero and nearby sidewalks, holding signs reading "Election invalidation" and "Arrest and investigate the NEC," while chanting slogans such as "The June 3 local election was fraudulent" and "Hold a re-election." The organizers reported the rally to police as a gathering of 50,000 people.
At around 2:30 p.m., Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history instructor and YouTuber, took the stage and said, "The sovereignty of 52 million people and the voting rights of more than 40 million voters have been stolen." He added, "We declare the June 3 local election invalid and call for nationwide re-elections. We are invoking the people's right to resist for a second April 19 Revolution and to bring down the Lee Jae-myung administration." He then urged participants to chant "re-election" and "stop the steal."
Dong-gyu Yu, former head of planning at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation (SDC), also spoke and said, "The Lee Jae-myung administration is watching to see whether the public will stay silent even if their voting rights are taken away." He added, "We have to vent our anger. If this is brushed aside, ballot shortages will always happen in places where the People Power Party is winning."
Pastor Jeon also took the stage and raised his voice, saying, "Shouldn't the NEC be dismantled?"
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As of 3:30 p.m. that day, more than 20,000 protesters, according to an unofficial police estimate, had gathered at the vote-counting site at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park in Songpa District, Seoul. About 20 to 30 election officials who finished counting at around 3 p.m. the previous day remained trapped inside the venue.
The crowd, which had grown to about 6,000 late the previous night, had fallen to around 500 by 7 a.m. that day, but it rose again to more than 3,000 by around 1 p.m.
Those blocking the entrance to the vote-counting site to prevent ballot boxes from being removed chanted "re-election" while holding signs and sketchbooks reading "fraudulent election," along with the South Korean and U.S. flags. There was no single group leading the protest on site, and many of the participants were in their teens to 30s. At one point, they were also seen sharing water, gimbap, and portable battery packs.
The protest began at around 10 a.m. the previous day, when the ballot boxes from Jamsil 7-dong in Songpa District, Seoul, which had experienced a ballot shortage, were moved.
Meanwhile, HYBE will hold the 2026 Weverse Con Festival at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena (KSPO Dome) near the vote-counting site on the same day. The organizer announced that it would not operate the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium, which had been planned as a wristband pickup location, citing visitor safety and concerns over crowd-flow confusion.
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psh@fnnews.com Park Sung-hyun Reporter