"Re-election" Jamsil vote-counting center blockade protest intensifies... police unofficially estimate 30,000 gathered over the weekend

The blockade protest at the Jamsil vote-counting center, which was sparked by controversy over a shortage of ballots, appears to be dragging on. Protesters are demanding a re-election, and tens of thousands gathered over the weekend. The possibility of a forced police dispersal has also been raised.
According to police and others on the 7th, about 3,000 people, based on an unofficial police estimate, gathered in the afternoon around the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa District, Seoul, which had been used as a vote-counting center, and chanted slogans such as "re-election" and "election fraud." The previous day, about 30,000 people, according to an unofficial police estimate, had gathered around the gymnasium and nearby areas.
Protesters are currently gathering at each of the eight entrances to the vote-counting center, saying they are monitoring whether ballot boxes are being removed. Inside the stadium, where security staff remain, there are ballot boxes brought from Jamsil 7-dong that have already been counted.
The protest, which initially featured microphones from Freedom & Innovation leader Hwang Kyo-ahn and YouTuber Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history instructor, has since shifted to being led mainly by citizens in their 20s and 30s. According to Seoul Metropolitan Government's real-time city data, the number of people in Olympic Park stood at between 12,000 and 14,000 as of noon that day, with people in their 20s accounting for 17.9% and those in their 30s for 23.1%, or 41% combined.
A guideline was also issued by some participants to limit protest materials to the Taegeukgi, or South Korean flag. Posts on social media showed people restraining a vendor selling U.S. flags near Olympic Park Station.
Police, which had previously forcibly dispersed protesters blocking Jamsil 7-dong Polling Place No. 2 with a force of about 1,000 officers, have shown no particular movement. However, as speculation spread that police could move in for a forced dispersal in the early hours of Monday or during the morning commute, protesters are on edge and preparing to stay overnight.
The previous day, the National Movement Headquarters for Rebuilding the Republic of Korea, led by Jeon Kwang-hoon, pastor of Sarang Jeil Church, held the "June 6 Gwanghwamun National Rally" near Exit 6 of Gwanghwamun Station in Seoul. Holding placards reading "election invalid" and "investigate the National Election Commission with arrests," they chanted slogans such as "The June 3 local elections were rigged" and "Carry out a re-election."
Jeon Han-gil, a YouTuber and former Korean history instructor, said, "The sovereignty of 52 million people and the voting rights of more than 40 million voters have been stolen," adding, "We declare the June 3 local elections invalid and call for a nationwide re-election. We will invoke the people's right to resist for a second April 19 Revolution and to bring down the Lee Jae-myung administration."
425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seung-han Reporter