Parliamentary committee enters blockaded ballot counting site for inspection
Members of a special parliamentary committee investigating ballot shortages that marred the June 3 local elections open the entrance to the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul's southern ward of Songpa, Thursday. Yonhap
Members of a special parliamentary committee investigating ballot shortages that marred the June 3 local elections on Thursday entered a vote counting venue that has long been barricaded by angry protesters to prevent the removal of ballot boxes inside the venue.
The on-site inspection came 27 days after protesters demanding a rerun of the elections began blockading the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in southern Seoul on June 5, two days after ballot shortages temporarily suspended voting at polling stations across the nation.
Police cleared protesters from the entrance to the stadium, which served as a ballot counting site on election day, to allow committee members access to the stadium. The inspection lasted around 40 minutes.
Scuffles were witnessed outside the stadium early Thursday, with some protesters shoving one another and tearing American flags carried by other participants.
Some protesters continued to blockade the stadium in opposition to the inspection, saying they would allow entry only to special counsel investigators or those with a warrant.
Police separated the protesters to prevent further clashes and deployed some 2,000 personnel to the site.
A team of emergency responders was also dispatched to the scene after a protester reportedly collapsed. The cause of the collapse was not immediately known.
Earlier in the day, the committee members visited the Songpa District Election Commission, where they were briefed by election officials on how ballot papers were managed on election day.